The SHSL Survivors' Society
by TheRoseShadow21
Summary: "It's been so long, perhaps we should meet up again. All of us." "Sounds like a good idea to me" And so it does, except perhaps it might not be, because some scars run so deep down that even time will never be enough to heal them... AU, rated T to be safe. (SYOC CLOSED!)
1. Prologue

At first, everything is white.

As I open my eyes slowly, all I see is a painful, bright white. But then I blink, and slowly, it clears away. There is still white and brightness, but now it forms shapes. A ceiling, high and rectangular. Lighting. And there are shadows, creating hollows and showing me that this is indeed real.

 _Am I dead?_

I blink again, once, twice, three times. I breathe, and discover there is something covering my mouth and nose. I move my hand hesitantly, and when that works I try my arm, and discovered it is hooked up to something. All strange details, but as I attempt to sit up and put these details together, someone lets out a high-pitched squeal and distracts me.

"You're awake! Oh my god, you're awake!"

The voice is familiar, and when I turn my head to look at the astonished female face, I find that _that_ is familiar too. There is a bandage wrapped around her head-which doesn't match anything I remember-, but she doesn't seem the worse for wear, apart from an expression of shock and deep, dark circles under her eyes. She utters my name, and then just stares.

"I-I'm going to get the others! And a nurse, okay? I'll be back soon!"

I have no time to say-or rather, indicate my assent- before she stumbles away. In the time she is gone, I attempt to sit up again, but I can't, and instead I look around from my vantage point. I'm in a hospital room, and if that girl's-no, my classmate. She's my classmate. As I list the facts of the situation in my mind, her face matches up with a name that's been floating around, and I remember this.

She's a classmate. One of my classmates at Hope's Peak Academy. And…

 _No…..wait. Is that…._

Images and sounds fill my mind. A weird mock-up of a courtroom, a black-and-white teddy bear, the blurry figure of a person laughing about the world that had ended. Blood, a knife, a gun, a trashed room, a cold pale hand. Being told that we needed to investigate, find out who the killer was, if we wanted to survive, over and over. There is more, but the more these things come flooding in, the more indistinct and chaotic they become.

 _I don't understand. I need….._

My classmate comes back at that moment, with five others roughly our age behind her. A nurse and a doctor push past them and come to me. The doctor is the first to reach me, a benign looking old man with calm grey eyes. But that isn't enough to reassure me. I want to know what's happening, why I'm here, how it is I remember what I remember ( _or think you're remembering_ , a part of me taunts), not to mention where….where….

But when I try to speak, the doctor puts a hand on my shoulder and says my name firmly, but not unkindly, and stops me from trying.

"Calm down. "He tells me. "You'll be able to speak soon. Just give us a few moments."

He keeps speaking after that as he and the nurse start to examine me, explaining everything he is doing, and the range of injuries I've had, and how long I've been under (a week and a half, as it turns out). I comply, numbly, not knowing what else to do, and out of the corner of my eye I see the girl and the others-my classmates-slip in cautiously and gather around the end of my bed.

I scan each and every one of them, matching their faces to the names and information to my memory. Each one fills me with a little satisfaction, an overwhelming sense of _I'm so glad you're safe_. But….there's someone missing. I go over and over the line my classmates form, but still, the person I am expecting to see just isn't there.

 _What….? Where….?_

Eventually, the nurse removes my oxygen mask, and almost instantly hands me something I quickly realise is an ice chip-something I quickly realise I need. As soon as I finish, I hold my hand out for more, and she taps two more into my palm from a cup, before setting it on the table. I notice there's also a cup and a bottle of water there too.

"Right, you should be fine now. You seem up to it, so I'll let you have some time with your classmates. They've all been worried about you."

"R-right." Even now, with my thirst is somewhat parched, the words stick. "Thank you."

The doctor and nurse leave, and just like that, the six standing at the end swarm forward, all saying my name, telling me how glad and relieved they are that I'm awake, voices overlapping. One of the girls hugs me too tightly, but since I've become used to it from being in class with her, I just let her. The girl who I first saw when waking up sits on my bed, while two of the others grab a chair, and the remaining two stand nearby.

"Okay, okay!" one of the standing boys snaps, rolling his eyes. "Shut it for now! Don't you think he's got questions of his own?"

They all fall silent and stare at me, all wide-eyed and sheepish. For the first time, I notice they _all_ look pale and drawn, with dark circles under their eyes. _Haunted,_ is the first word that occurs to me, looking at them. And I suspect it's by the same things that I'm starting to remember, the details that are gradually starting to pull themselves together.

"D-Didn't the…" I have to pause for a moment. "Didn't the world end? I remember….that-"

"Lies. It was all lies." The same annoyed boy replies. "Nothing was wrong, that was just-"

"Oi!" my classmate with the bandaged head scolds mid-sentence, frowning. "You could word it kinder, y'know?"

"Why? There's nothing to be kind _about_! We were _lied to_!"

"Not entirely."

The spat abruptly halts as we all turn to the girl sitting on a chair next to me. Even by the standards of the others, she looks incredibly pale and drawn, her arms wrapped around herself as she stares at me, looking almost afraid. It makes no sense to me, but even as I realise this fact something else tugs at the back of my mind.

"It wasn't the apocalypse, but bad things were happening outside during….that time…attacks, murders, they said. But the Future Foundation, and the police and all, they managed to contain most of that. It was just….just us they couldn't get to in time."

" _No! No, he didn't…he can't have, he wouldn't do anything like that! He's not that kind of person. Listen to him! And you, just tell them that you didn't, that you couldn't have! Please, tell them….!"_

It's her voice, I know that. Her, during that time. But where she was so impassioned before, now her voice is barely a whisper, and I have to lean in to catch any of that.

When she has finished, she looks down at her lap, hands fiercely bunching the material of her skirt, and though I badly want to ask what she means by 'the Future Foundation', I put it together, vividly, the memory of standing in that mock courtroom for what the weird bear (?), putting in a vote to damn yet another classmate….the weird sense that I was getting revenge, justice, but that the cost was too much…

Suddenly, I can't look at her, so I deliberately turn away and look down at my own hands, at the tubes running through them, how thin and bony they look. Though the memories have been dribbling in rapidly since I opened my eyes, it only now dawns on me how injured I must be. How worried everyone was, how worried-

"Where…." I ask abruptly. "Where is….?"

That person's face, the one I've been looking for but haven't been able to find amongst these friends of mine. I see their face so clearly in my mind, and yet I can't manage to say their name to ask for them. But it turns out that I don't need to, for when I look up, I see something dawn in all their eyes, and they all look at each other, uncomfortably.

"I thought you remembered everything." My angrier classmate is the one to respond, eventually, though now he seems less angry.

"It sounded like you did, anyway. "He shrugs. "But, I guess it'd be easy to believe otherwise, wouldn't it? But sorry, mate, but-"

"No." I cut him off mid-sentence. The girl in the chair, still looking down, murmurs my name and an apology, but I find it hard to look at her. It's not her fault as such, but at the moment, I just…

"Don't say it. Don't say it." I tell him, shaking my head. "Don't….."

My protests die away, and I give up, cover my face, and cry.

 _I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry._

 **…**

It's been about a month since we were all released from hospital, a month and a half since we were rescued in the first place. I should have been released earlier, really. I got off scot-free in comparison to some of the others, when we were running to get out of there before the entire goddamn building exploded. But whatever. It didn't seem right to leave them, after that. Perhaps we weren't all buddy-buddy before, but it wasn't like I _hated_ them or anything that extreme.

 _And now, we're bonded forever._

I don't think there is anyone else in the entire who had the experience we did, who's specifically gone through this particular ordeal. Certainly of all the different ways life could have fucked us up, we somehow ended up with a unique one. So now we have that in common. And I think that's made me closer to them. Even if some of them are real pains in the butt, I quite like that.

But for me, that's something to think about later. Right now, it's about figuring out how the hell to put my life together and what to do next. Now we're out of the hospital, we've all been put up in a guest suite in Byakuya Togami's mansion. The _same_ Byakuya Togami who once attended Hope's Peak, years before we did, as an SHSL Heir. It is not something I'd ever imagined happening, but when Enoshima started to wreak havoc in the name of Hope's Peak, he was one of the main people who thought of coming up with an organisation specifically for combatting it. So along with various other Hope's Peak alumni, Togami formed the organisation that everyone now knows as the Future Foundation. And they did indeed manage to stem the new wave of terrorism that…that goddamned poor _excuse_ of a _person -_ and their idiotic minions-… had created. And they did, eventually, somehow manage to get to us. Which is great, of course.

But as far as I'm concerned, it was all too late. Too little, too late. Easy for me to say, sitting here now, but even if I'd found them insufferable at times, they were my _classmates,_ for crying out loud. Perhaps if they'd figured things out earlier, more of us would be here now, enjoying Byakuya Togami's guest rooms and sitting here figuring out our futures while waiting for arrangements could be made for us to go home.

"AHEM."

I blink and shake my head, and hear my name being called, and turn to look at one of my female classmates /fellow survivors, pouting at me.

"What?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. She lets out a puff of air and sighs in deep annoyance.

"You always gabbed on at us for drifting off randomly and now you're doing the same thing?!"

I roll my eyes, but smile.

 _Great, now I'm having the pot-kettle-black expression turned on me. Wonderful._

"Sorry. I was just thinking…." I look around me, and push all my thoughts of the Future Foundation away. I'll probably be jotting it all down later, an account to keep for later, when I'm actually doing something in my life and I can surely say I've moved on. But for now, they're pushed away, and I look around at my classmates, all of us sitting on sofas around a coffee table. I lean over to grab a biscuit, and then nibble at it.

"So, what are we talking about again?"

"Keeping in touch." I look over at who's sitting directly opposite me, and I swallow down a scream of outrage at the world. If I got off scot-free, then he got the worst of it, for sure. In a coma for a week-and-a-half, still in a wheelchair now. And so sad looking. To be fair, we're clearly _all_ sad looking, but even so.

"You mean, after we go our separate ways. I…it seems silly, wanting such a reminder, but I want to keep in touch. As friends. We're still classmates, right?"

"Yup, yup!" the girl who scolded me chimes in. I notice she's been holding a pen. "I'm writing addresses and phone numbers and stuff, but given that we all lost our phones, and stuff like that….yeah. It's a bit patchy at the moment, but we'll figure something organised out."

"Like a chat group?" another boy asks. "Or a mailing list?"

"Or both. " I point out. "If we're keeping in touch, it makes sense to do it in as many ways as possible."

"It does." Another of the girls agrees, smiling faintly.

Everyone grins at her almost immediately, myself included. I mean, we're all sort of looking after each other, given the circumstances. What else would we do? But in her case….back then, after that one particular trial, she took it the worst, with good reason. She needed, and still needs, a little more looking after than the rest of us. Heck, even the guy sitting opposite me now is in a better condition than her, which is saying a lot. But either way, she's been so pale and ghost-like after coming out, seeing her smile feels pretty damn special. Not to mention the fact that now at least instead of being almost folded over with her arms around herself, she's actually sitting straight like the rest of us, her hands folded over her stoma-wait. What?

I narrow my eyes, and then blink.

 _Huh._

Well, alrighty then. I won't ask about that now, but somehow I'm both surprised and completely and utterly _not_ surprised at the same time. Where did they even get any privacy during the game….? Or was that before…? Actually, never mind that. Though I don't particularly want it to, my brain's gonna bend for a while thinking about that. _Just another thing to add to the list._ But if my assumption is right, then I guess it just makes it even better that we'll always be around to rally around each other.

 _Because we're bonded, forever._

"Yup. We could meet, from time to time, in person." I add. "Especially for those of us who can at least get to each other by train or something. But anyway, whose biscuits are these? Did someone on Togami-san's staff make them?"

I chew on it appreciatively. This, for some reason, breaks the ice a little and a couple of the others reach for the treats on the table.

"Actually, Andou-sempai did. "The girl next to me corrects. "She's brought these over this morning, apparently. They still taste super-fresh, like they just came out of the oven though, it's _too_ good….."

She trails off as she takes another bite of her own snack, humming appreciatively. Can't say I blame her for it, really. These are _divine_.

"Andou-sempai is….." I frown and think, trying to remember if I know the name simply because she's a Hope's Peak alumni, or if we've met her in the time since we escaped.

"No, wait, never mind!" I declare, once I've located the memory of a woman wearing pink fluffy clothes. "I remember."

This, for some reason, makes everyone laugh. I honestly don't see quite what's so funny, but all the same I find myself laughing along with them after a few beats. Man, it feels so good to laugh.

"Say, should we give ourselves a name?!" the girl next to me asks eagerly once we've all calmed down. I gawp at her.

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Like, a group name or something? I dunno. I just thought of it and figured it might be cool, y'know?"

"What sort of name would we even give ourselves?"

"Worst comes to worst, it'll be a handy way of naming our group chats, once we've set that up."

"But we don't need anything special for that, just something like Hope's Peak classmates, or whatever."

"HP Classmates, then."

"That sounds like we're in a video game."

"Or like that brown sauce deal-you know what I mean by that, right?"

I don't, but I decide let that one go.

"Ehh….."

"To be honest, the idea's kinda chee-"

"SHSL Survivors."

Once again, the discussion is silenced, this time by the boy sitting opposite to me. We all just stare, for a moment.

"What do you mean by that, mate?" I ask, eventually. He takes a moment to think about it.

"We're SHSLs, aren't we? And we….somehow, despite everything, survived this. And we really were not meant to. And so….."

"I see?" I sort of get where he's got the idea from, but at the same time, what am I meant to say to that?

"Isn't it more accurate to say that we _were_ SHSLs though?" one of the other points out. "I mean, it's not like the school's ever going to open again, not after this."

"So?" Predictably, the protest comes from next to me, accompanied with the usual pout. "We still went there! Besides, he's right, technically. We're _all_ SHSL Survivors! Plus, it sounds cool."

"Yeah, I suppose…"

"It's a little corny, but I appreciate the sentiment well enough."

"Yeah, no, I like it too."

"I like that."

They all turn to look at me, and I groan.

"What? I'm not your goddamn leader!" I sigh. "But fine. I like it a lot too. Happy?"

"Yeah, actually." The one who suggested it looks at me with the most grateful look, that all I can do is smile back. Even if my feelings for them all end up tipping back towards the leave-me-alone-you-utter-pains, I'll always be glad to see them happy after this. Always.

 _Because we're bonded, forever._

"Woo-hoo! How about we toast it, then?"

"We're still minors, we can't even _have_ alcohol! Also, we don't have any drinks here right now, alcoholic or otherwise!"

"Who said a toast had to be alcoholic?"

"I could always go and ask for something to drink….." comes the hesitant offer.

"No, no, it's cool. We can always toast with biscuits, right?"

"…..that is the most bloody ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

But for some reason, the idea catches on. And though it honestly makes me long for relative solitude for the next century or so, I find myself grinning and grabbing yet another biscuit, to toast to the idea that we are all SHSL Survivors.

 **…**

I frown at my reflection as I try to comb my hair so it hides that scar. As obtrusive as it was, the bandage that had been around my head was at least useful in that sense. But of course, I don't need it anymore. Perhaps I could invest in a hat or three, when I get out of here.

 _Oh, get a grip. It hardly matters that much._

I was fine with things when the bandage first came off, with only the other Survivors seeing it, pretty much. But now we're going back into the outside world. Back home. I should be excited, but all I'm thinking about right now is my stupid hair and that stupid scar.

In the end, I decide to just forget it, and clip back my fringe in the way I used to do before all of this happened. _Let them stare_. I just finish up the rest of my hairdo, and then stuff the rest of my things into my suitcase. My _brand new_ suitcase, mostly filled with brand new clothes and other items, all courtesy of the Future Foundation, given that most of our personal possessions got completely destroyed in the escape. Their reach really is pretty large, even if Hope's Peak is pretty much over now as a school and a name and everything. They even gave us all shiny new phones, too, which was kind of them. It feels kind of weird, using all this stuff that doesn't quite feel like mine yet, but still, it's not as if there's anything else to be done, given the circumstances.

 _Plus, there's no use rebuffing a kindness._

"Hey!" I hear my name being called out from the other side of the door. "Stop daydreaming in there!"

"I'm not daydreaming, dummy!"

Well, I sort of was, but I'm not about to tell _him_ -the resident grump of our little group- that and give him another reason to blather on.

"Then get a move on, we're all waiting!"

"Okay, okay, I know!" I gather up my stuff quickly, and take one last look around the room. It's pretty in here, and the bed was so freaking cosy, I'll kind of miss it. But it looks like a fancy hotel room, really. And no matter how fancy a hotel room is, I suppose it doesn't compare to home at all.

 _Home….at last…_

I open the door and level a look at the boy standing there. He sighs long-sufferingly, but reaches to take my larger suitcase without a word, and we go down the stairs together.

"We're going out by the back entrance." He tells me.

"What, why?"

"Reporters are milling around the front, somehow they got wind of the fact that this is the day that we're going home and they want shots of it so they can cobble together some sort of story."

"Oh, geez, I've had enough of being the story!" I complain. "Can't they just let us be?"

"I guess it's just the 'human interest' of it. We are pretty much all that's left of the very last Hope's Peak student batch, after all."

"Yeah….."

Everyone else is at the back door, all of them holding onto their own bags. He hands me my large suitcase, and goes back to his own things, which he had clearly left there before coming to me. One of Togami's Men-In-Black type subordinates is assisting on of our other classmates, who is still in no state to really properly carry anything apart from one simple messenger bag. Togami is standing with them too.

"Alright then. I presume everything is in order, and you're all ready to go."

"Yes!" all seven of us chorus.

"Very well then, I shall take you to where the car is waiting."

He strides off without looking back, and we all follow quietly. Given the number of doors and the twisting pathway through the garden that we end up taking, I wonder if this is more of a _secret_ entrance than simply a back entrance, but soon enough we reach the road, where a large car with tinted windows waits. The driver window is rolled down, and I can see that the driver is another of Togami's Men-in-Black types.

 _Huh, at least any nosy reporters won't get to see anything._

There are also two men and a woman waiting there, calmly standing by the car. I recognise them immediately-Kyosuke Munakata, Makoto Naegi and Kyouko Kirigiri. Hope's Peak alumni, and Future Foundation members. Naegi beams when he sees us.

"Good morning!" he says, greeting each of us in turn, by name.

"I hope you all slept well, given that at least some of you have quite the journey."

"Yes, we did, thanks." One of the girls replies. Naegi nods, pleased.

"Awesome!" he launches into a chat about inane things, filling us in on the various other things that have happened in the world (well, apart from the stuff relating to our ordeal, which we sort of know), as he and the other two help us to load our luggage into the boot of the car. When that is done, we stare expectantly wondering what they want. Eventually, it is Munakata that speaks.

"Since you'll all be going back to your homes and hopefully resume your lives, we wanted to come and see the seven of you off." He explains.

"Yes," Naegi agrees. "It's been wonderful getting to know you all, even if it was under horrible circumstances. But you've all been working so hard to recover, mentally and physically, and I know you'll be fine. I'm proud of you all."

"Thank you, Naegi-sempai." I say for everyone. He nods at me and smiles.

"Yukizome wanted to come and see you off as well, but she's still…..not well." Munakata's usually stoic face creases for a moment as he admits this, and then clears, though he has to rub his forehead as though massaging a headache. I suspect he'll be going straight back to his own home once we're on our way.

" _Don't listen to him! Don't give in to what he wants! This is an order, as your teacher."_

I shudder at the memory, and slap my cheeks to pull myself together.

"Are you all right?" a soft voice murmurs next to me. I turn, and smile at its owner.

"Yeah, I am, thanks." I try to sound as reassuring as I can. "How about you? I mean, you look glowing, but are you really okay?"

She laughs a little at that, and then sighs.

"I suppose I will be. Eventually. I have to be, there isn't just me to think about."

"Yeah. That's how it is for most of us: we'll all be okay, eventually."

 _Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later, though._

When I turn back around, I realise there's a whole lot of handshaking going around, as though we're really important people, special or something. I suppose we were once, but that time's long over, really. What I have left of the before, I'll hold onto for sure, but we've come back down to earth now, so it feels weird to know we're held in such high regard. Then again, given the whole ordeal, perhaps there's some respect, because we were brave or something. That's something I've heard a lot-we were brave, courageous.

 _I didn't feel brave, back then._

But I beam, and shake Munakata's hand, and then Naegi's, Kirigiri's and finally Togami's. Somewhat surprisingly, Togami then opens the door, and indicates that we should get in now. The girl I was talking to prepares to get in first, but I stop her.

"Wait a moment!"

"Oh?" she regards me curiously. "What's the matter, have you forgotten something?"

"Oh for God's sake!" I pout without turning to the voice-I don't need to do that, to know who it is.

"No! But what about a group photo, before we go?" I explain, digging into my shiny new shoulder bag to get out the shiny new phone, and turning it on to the camera app.

"Why?"

"We are all getting dropped off at different places." I turn to the boy who answered, and smile gratefully.

"Exactly, so we may as well do that quickly-ah, there is time for that, right? It shouldn't take long." I check with the adults.

"If you must, then do it." Togami says.

"It's no skin off of my nose." The driver adds, voice oddly sunny for someone who's dressed like he is. If this were another situation, I'd probably laugh about it.

 _Maybe one day, in the distant future, you will._

"Ah. If you'd like, I'd take the photograph for you." Naegi offers. I pretend to consider this, but since it would be easier than a selfie, my decision is made quickly.

"Yes please!" He doesn't need showing how it works (obviously), so I drag everyone into a suitable position and then settle myself.

"Alright then!" Naegi says once we're all ready. "Say 'Cheese'!"

"CHEESE!"

The phone camera flashes-once, then another time-before Naegi checks the photos and hands the phone back to me.

"Thank you, sempai!"

"Not a problem!"

We all pile into the car, and I end up at the end, next to the car door I settle my shoulder bag on my lap and fiddle with my seatbelt, and then look up as Togami peers into the car at us.

"I hope that all of you will go on to make something good of your lives. However, either way, should you need anything at all, do not hesitate to call us, or anyone at the Future Foundation, and we will do everything that is in our power to help."

"Shouldn't the Future Foundation be over by now?" the resident grump asks.

"There's still investigations to complete, and other loose ends to tie up. And the trials, for those of the various perpetrators who are still around for us to apprehend." Kirigiri answers from somewhere behind Togami.

"Ah, I see." With the frown, I can't tell if that answer pleases him or not, but it doesn't seem to matter, as he just nods and leans back in his seat again. Togami looks us over one more time, and then nods and straightens.

"Well then. Goodbye then, Class 78."

 _We're_ not _Class 78. Class 78 was all 18 of us, back when things were normal. We're the SHSL Survivors now._

"Bye!" I say, cheerfully along with the others. Togami closes the door, and there is a few more moments as some of those sitting in the middle struggle with seatbelts.

"Alright, is everybody buckled up and ready to go?"

We all answer in the affirmative, and then, with a loud start, we're off and away towards the rest of our lives.

* * *

 **Probably not the best time in my life for me to start an SYOC, but what the hell. Once I get into post-graduate stuff, and eventually (hopefully) into a job, who knows when I'll even have the time to start something like this. The better time really is now. And in any case, I've had this idea knocking around in my head for a long while, but initially decided not to go for it. I only got my second wind with this idea when describing it in a review on another SYOC fic I'm really enjoying at the moment (if anyone's wondering what fic that is, it's 'Danganronpa Airlines: First Class Despair')- go have a look at it, it's a really cool fic so far ^^). But yeah, though I'm a busy bee, I am very invested in this idea and so this fic will remain active, and will definitely finish...eventually. And I have two complete SYOC fics behind me anyway-one for DR which I finished four years ago ('Outsider Perspective'), and a more recent one for Assassination Classroom ('Ending the End Class'), so I know how to slug through things and finish them.**

 **But I digress. This SYOC is, somewhat obviously, an AU, one where The Tragedy didn't happen, but those trapped inside the Mutual Killing Game were made to believe the world had indeed ended...only to find out the lie when they escaped/were rescued. The prologue is basically the first-person POV of three of the seven Survivors during the more immediate aftermath of the MKG, and the vast bulk of this story is going to be about the seven Survivors reuniting seven years later, and how the events they went through have had long lasting effects on their lives. So the Mutual Killing Game's events will be revealed to you through flashback, dialogue and other aspects of the story as it goes on (I am also going to scatter in a few special chapters that have short scenes of things leading up to the MKG in general, but I'll explain that more when we get to that).**

 **So anyway, the characters I am hoping to receive from you are the entire class of 18: 7 Survivors and 11 dead. I know it's kind of weird to ask you to send me already-dead characters, but it's kind of the nature of the story, so...yeah. But the fact of them being dead doesn't make them less important. As for the Survivors...well, I tried to be as non-specific as possible in the prologue, but the fact of it there are some hints as to possible character relationships and personalities/circumstances etc. You may use those as prompts if you like, and even mention it in the form if you're specifically basing your character off of a particular part of the prologue, but by all means don't feel restricted in this. In the end, I have to decide what fits anyway, all you need to do is be creative and put your best efforts in! Ah, and also, I will be accepting multiple characters from the same person, and I don't mind if they are related to each other. In fact, that would be great if I had some already-done pairs. Of course, I don't want all my characters to have been pre-paired, as I'd like the chance to brainstorm and plot some relationships, but yeah. Pairs are allowed.**

 **Anyhow, I am rambling a lot. To keep this Author's Note from becoming too long, the form is on my profile, and below I have put some rules and guidance so that you know what I expect and to help you out. So yeah, I hope you'll enjoy this SYOC, and please leave feedback! (And if you have questions, please feel free to ask them!)**

 **Rules and Guidance**

 **1)The first and most important, given the nature of this SYOC-if you look at the form, you'll notice three overarching sections-A, B and C. Section A is compulsory for all submitted characters, regardless of if they are a Survivor, or one of the dead. There is a question at the end of this section that asks you for the status of your OC, and this will either be 'Survivor', 'Killer' or 'Victim'. If your character is alive and therefore a Survivor, you should then fill in Section B after you've gone through A. For a dead character, so a Victim or a Killer, fill in Section C.**

 **2)Speaking of the form, I've put a whole lot of tips and guidance in brackets after various sections. Please read through those, as they are there to help you. But obviously, when sending in the form, delete out those bracketed bits. It'll give you more space, which means you can be more detailed in the app. And detailed is always good :)**

 **3)In this AU, Hope's Peak is still a Japan-based school. Therefore, I want the majority of the cast to be Japanese. However, I won't dismiss foreigners out of hand, and will probably accept a few in the final class list.**

 **4) The age range of the characters for section A is 16-18. The actual story is taking place seven years later, with the bulk of it being in the summer holidays (July/August time), and so depending on their birthday, if you are sending a Survivor OC, then the age to put in Section B will probably be between 22-25.**

 **5)As far as genders go, though I am accepting of all genders, I don't trust myself to be able to write anything beyond the binary male or female. Therefore, I would only want males and females in the cast. And though I don't necessarily want even numbers of each, I want the ratio to be somewhat balanced. As far as sexuality goes, this I feel a little more confident in being able to portray, so go wild (if necessary)**

 **6)When it comes to repeating talents, I definitely want a Lucky Student in my class list somewhere, and as Student Council President is also a talent that gets recycled in three year spans, I would probably accept one of these depending. I might also accept NDRV3 talents, or variations on existing talents (for example, having a different type of dancer or musician). But any straight-up repeats of DR1, SDR2 or DR3 talents I do not want, at all, simply because there will be AU versions of those characters making side appearances of varying significance-as you'll have already noted in the Prologue. So asides from Lucky Student and Student Council President, I want original talents-be as creative as you like here.**

 **7)And what of recycled characters, I hear you wonder? Well, ideally, I'd like a new character (or characters), specifically created for this fic. However, if you have an already character who was rejected from the last story you submitted them to and you'd like to try them again, feel free to do so. Other cases I will allow recycled characters is if the story they're in hasn't progressed past the prologue in six months or more, or if the story they were in has actually gotten scrapped. Otherwise, new characters please.**

 **8)The no Mary Sue/Gary Stu thing goes without saying, but I am saying it anyway- PLEASE no Mary Sue/Gary Stu type characters**

 **9)The maximum amount of characters each person can send to me is four. I have mentioned elsewhere in this author's note that I accept and even encourage pairs being sent to me. So if you plan to send four characters, this means you can either send me two pairs, one pair+two stand-alone characters, or four standalone characters.**

 **10) Applications to be sent by PM only-in fact, multiple PMs, since there is no way that both sections of the form will fit into one PM. Plus, I want detailed applications anyway, so multiple messages is good. As long as the messages for one application are all in the same conversation thread, it's all good ^^. And on a lighter note, if you're an SYOC writer yourself and I've sent you an OC, I've probably made your inbox hell during the time you were gathering characters, so feel free to do the same!**

 **11) Though this isn't first-come, first-served, I do encourage starting sooner rather than later. My final deadline will be two months from now. Or rather, a little over that. This is because although there will be obviously exceptions, my most likely update days will be Sundays, so it's more convenient for me to close the submissions on a Sunday. Today is Sunday the 8th of Jan,but as an exact two months from now would be on a Wednesday, this means that the final deadline is 12th March. However, not only might I close it before that depending on how many applications come through for me to choose from, I hope to acquire the OC who will be my protag within a month, and update with the chapter introducing him or her around that time as well.**

 **12) Updates on the status of the SYOC will either be included in the most recent chapter, or somewhere on my profile. If I'm busy and the update looks like it will be a long time in coming, profile is more likely since typing something there and saving it is a damn sight quicker than the whole author-note-chapter uploading rigmarole. Not to mention that it is SO disappointing to see an email about a chapter update only to see that it's not a chapter. I don't want to do that. Speaking of updates, after the SYOC is closed, any important announcements about the update rate of the story etc. will also either be in the note of the latest chapter, or on my profile. But that's me getting ahead of myself there…=P**


	2. Seven Years and Counting

**Ah, the wonderfulness of getting something done before you had expected to (unfortunately, this isn't going to happen all the time).**

 **Anyway, the SYOC as it stands at the time of upload has 10/18 filled spots, with four of those being Survivors and six being dead. For now, the final deadline of March 12th remains as it is, though please do keep checking back on my profile to see if that has changed. I've been getting quite a lot of apps to chose from and I am honestly impressed by the variety I am getting, but I do need more to choose from, so if you haven't hit your four-character limit please do-those of you new to the fic, please check the rules at the end of the prologue too before submitting characters! :) (also, for those of you whose applications are still in progress, I eagerly await their completion!)**

 **But without further ado, here's the protagonist introduction chapter!**

* * *

I woke up slowly, almost painfully. My alarm hadn't gone off, and when I turned over and looked at the clock, I still had about half-an-hour before it _would_ go off, which was just typical. So, I reached to turn the alarm off, and then turned back over again, staring at the wall and remembering.

" _Koutarou!" As soon as I heard the door open next door, I rushed over to the fence, pulled the letter out of my pocket and waved it at him._

" _I didn't even need to look to realise you were out here. Ya realise we're gonna be late for school, right, Moyashi?" was his response as soon as he came, pointing to the garden shears that I was still carrying. I pouted, put the shears down, and then waved the letter again, more empathetically._

" _It's just a bit of bedheading–deadheading, that's all, I haven't done any for a little while and it needs to be done. Ah, but anyway, Koutarou, look at this!"_

" _What is it?" without waiting for an answer, he plucked the letter from my hand and tugged it out of the envelope. His eyebrows went up as soon as he saw the logo at the top of the letter._

" _Hope's Peak?" The hell?" he muttered. He opened up the letter and started to read it carefully, occasionally reading out bits and pieces._

" _Chieko Akamine…..title of SHSL Gardener….if you wish to take up this place…." eventually, he looked up and met my eyes._

" _SHSL Gardener, huh?" he asked. "I reckon that's fitting, considerin'. Wasn't one of yer last jobs for the president?"_

" _Yeah, it was." I had a momentary flashback to that job. I had been a bit star struck at first, and a little bowled over, but in the end it had been a gardening job like any other, and a fun one to boot._

" _Thought so. Still, it's kinda funny, considerin'" he said, looking as if he was struggling to hold back a laugh. I tilted my head and frowned at that._

" _What's funny?"_

" _Here, take it back, Moyashi, I'll be back in a moment."_

" _Huh? Koutarou?" I blinked, but he had already given the letter back to me and disappeared back inside. I stared, but then looked back down at the letter. It was pretty flattering, knowing that I was deemed to be good enough at gardening that Hope's Peak itself would want me at their school, but…_

 _I looked up as the door opened again, and Koutarou came back out. I noticed that he was carrying a white envelope, one that was about the same size as mine._

" _No way, is that….?" He pulled out the letter from his envelope, unfolded it and held it out to me so that I could read it. And, of course, see the distinctive Hope's Peak logo at the top of the letter._

" _What are the odds, huh?" he said, wryly, as I read._

" _I dunno…" I wasn't even sure what to think. Not just me getting accepted as an SHSL Gardener, but Koutarou being picked as the SHSL Lucky Student this year? That was kind of amazing._

 _When I didn't say anything else, Koutarou sighed, and folded up the letter, but didn't put it away as he leaned against the fence and surveyed me and my garden with his usual narrow olive gaze. I didn't go back to the deadheading I was doing, but instead waited to see what he had to say about all this._

" _So, Chieko." He eventually asked. "What are ya gonna do with the invitation, then?"_

At least it hadn't been a nightmare, one of the nastier flashbacks of those times. But still, it wasn't particularly a memory I wanted to be having, now or ever. That place wasn't one I ever wanted to think of at all, to think that it once existed. _If it hadn't, I'd still be a gardener now. I'd have that at least._

Catching myself, I took a deep breath, and then another, forcing myself to calm down. It wouldn't do any good to have a crisis now. I'd been doing better recently, so I didn't want to end up going backwards and erasing my progress. Not just for my sake, but for Shizuka's, too. So I took a deep breath, and then another, and waited for the storm to pass, staring dully at the wall as I did so.

And eventually, it did pass, and I forced myself to sit up. Checking the time again told me that fifteen minutes had passed, so there was still time for me to lie in a little more before I had to get up and going, but somehow it felt pointless. Memory had woken me up too fully.

So, yawning a little, I got up and padded over to my window, pulling aside the curtains to let the light in, noting that it had stopped raining at some point during the night. I located my pyjama trousers and pulled them on, and then went to my wardrobe and opened it, and stared at the choices I had hanging up. Eventually, I pulled out a pair of black jeans, a light purple top and a cardigan in a darker shade, and hunted out underwear from the relevant drawers, before then heading to the bathroom to brush my teeth, shower and change.

Once I was done, I unlocked the medicine cabinet, and reached up for the two bottles and out of habit, read the dosage instructions as I tipped the relevant amount out and took them, washing down with a glass of water. I found my travel box and tipped in an extra dose of both, given that I wouldn't be at home at the next time I was supposed to take them, and then I locked everything else up (I couldn't let Shizuka get to them, after all) and took the box back with me to my room. After putting it into the backpack, in the usual pocket, I hunted out a pair of clean socks and pulled them on my feet, then combed my hair and tied it into a low ponytail, before checking the time again and leaving my room.

As I did every morning, I went straight to Shizuka's room, and opened the door quietly and peered around to see if she was awake yet. She wasn't-she was still tucked up, looking as though she was in the middle of a peaceful dream, with a teddy bear tucked under one arm, and a stuffed bunny and sheep under the other, dark hair streaming across the pillow. For a moment, I just stood and watched her sleep, almost envying her for the tranquillity of her sleep. Almost, not completely. All I wanted for Shizuka was normality and happiness, after all.

After the moment had passed, I went in and tugged her pink curtains open, finding the matching ties to tie them back neatly. The sudden brighter light had Shizuka stir and turn over, trying to hide her face in her pillow and scrunching herself up into a smaller ball.

"No, Mummy, not yet, I'm still asleep…." She muttered sleepily.

I held back a chuckle at that, but couldn't help but smile as I knelt by her bed so that I wouldn't be talking down at her.

"Well, that may be the case, but you have to wake up for school now."

"Hmm…" Shizuka reluctantly opened her eyes and sat up, rubbing the sleep away, before looking at me, appearing to consider the situation and what it requested of her.

"Okay, Mummy." She eventually said, pushing her quilt aside, getting out of bed and rearranging her three soft toys on top of her pillow. I folded her quilt, then went to help her brush her teeth and wash her face, before she went off to get changed and I went down to make our lunches.

Dad was already at the dining room table, his breakfast already eaten as he read a newspaper. Two covered plates were also on the table, one at my place, and one at Shizuka's.

"Good morning, Dad." I greeted as I went through to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Chieko. Had a good sleep?"

"Well….no worse than usual." I answered after a moment to think about it. "I'm going to make a drink for myself and Shizuka. Did you want anything?"

"No, no, it's fine. I'll be off in a minute, anyway."

"Ah, alright."

I busied myself with the drinks-tea for me, juice for Shizuka-and drank mine while preparing our lunches, partially made up from some food I'd prepared last night, and the rest composed of different snacks I'd brought from the convenience store recently. Not for the first time, I wondered if it would have been better if I could make everything in these lunches from scratch each morning, the way other mothers seemed to be able to do, but I made an effort to shrug it off, since I was doing what I could, and Shizuka was fine with what she had.

When I had finished and put the two bento boxes aside to pick up later, I went back to the dining room so that I could eat my breakfast. Shizuka had come down by that time and was cheerfully munching through her eggs while chatting with Dad. I sat down with them, and joined in a little, though I was mainly just listening. Afterwards, I took the plates to wash up, and Dad left for work, and Shizuka went back upstairs to play for a little bit before we had to leave. From the kitchen, I could see the back garden, and for a moment I could see myself and Koutarou running around, laughing, or talking to each other over our shared fence, like the flashback I'd had to when I'd received that letter from Hope's Peak.

The garden looked very different, back then.

 _I'm sorry, Mum._

Abruptly, I wiped the last plate and put it to dry, and strode out of the kitchen, picking up the two bento boxes and water bottles and going upstairs.

"Shizuka, put your lunch in your bag now, so you don't forget it." I said when I poked my head around Shizuka's door. She looked up from what she was drawing-an army of purple cats, it looked like at first glance-and cheerfully got up and hopped over to take it before going back to her drawing, and then I went to my own room and busied myself sorting everything out- the notes I'd need today, my pencil case, phone, travel card, extra money, student ID card, lunch, notebook-and making sure it was all sorted and in my bag. I double checked that I had my medication and my extra phone charger as well, and then zipped up my bag.

Looking out of the window, it was still bright and sunny, but there were enough clouds in the sky to make me think that it would probably rain today as well, so I took out my blue raincoat and put it next to my bag on my bed, and then went and sat at my desk, picking up the framed photograph of Koutarou and holding it in my hands.

 _It's been seven years,_ I realised. Seven years since we'd been trapped in the first place and since we'd escaped with the building falling down all around us. The actual seventh anniversary had been a few months ago, but even so, seven years. _And here I am, still. Somehow._ One of the survivors of the killing game that ravaged Hope's Peak. One of those considered as a 'SHSL Survivor', no less.

 _At least it's not just me, though._ There was Wakana, Tyson, and the others too. My friends. It wasn't something that I'd suffered alone. _But even so…_

"Mummy? Mummy?"

I startled, and looked over to see Shizuka standing by the door. She'd put her yellow duck-patterned raincoat, and she was wearing her school backpack too. I looked over at my clock and did a double take. _I've been sitting here for that long?!_ Shizuka looked curiously from me, to the photograph and back again, and I realised I had to say something.

"Sorry, sweetheart. I was just…thinking…"

Shizuka regarded me curiously; her wide eyes a brighter mirror of mine. I sighed and rubbed my head tiredly.

"We should probably get going now, huh?" I asked, trying to sound cheerful about it.

"Mhm." Shizuka nodded earnestly at that, managing to make me smile as I put the photograph down on my desk and went to get my jacket and bag, double checking my bag once again before shrugging it on.

"Alright then, let's go now." I said, going over to the door. Shizuka nodded again, but didn't leave the room straight away. Instead, she looked back over at the desk, staring at the photo of Koutarou. I held my breath, and waited. My mind raced, already trying to find a way to handle whatever question she had. But it turned out I didn't need to worry this time.

"Bye-bye, Daddy!" she said cheerily, giving a little wave to the photograph before turning away and rushing out and down the stairs. I blinked as I stared after her, lost for a moment. Then, I sighed deeply and turned around again myself.

"Bye, Koutarou." I murmured. Then, I closed my bedroom door, and followed Shizuka down.

 **…**

I walked Shizuka part of the way to school then let her go the rest of the way with her friends as I ran for the bus that would take me to the station. I somehow managed to get it on time, and I was slightly out of breath, but the bus was too full for me to stand, which was a little annoying, but not too surprising. Luckily, the train wasn't too crowded for the time of day, and so I was able to sit down and collect myself a little.

After a few moments, I dug my phone out of my bag and checked the messages I had. A few were from the few friendships I'd made at university. One had been sent just moments ago, asking how far away everyone was, so I tapped out a reply to tell them that I was on my way. Another was from Misa-since she'd moved out to her own house a little while back (though we still met up regularly enough that sometimes it felt as though she hadn't) she always made a point of checking up on me, so I responded to that one, too.

And as usual, all the other messages were the SHSL Survivors' chat group. Most of them were ones from the night before, messages that I'd, missed because I had been trying to get an early (well, earlier) night. There was nothing in particular that anyone was talking about, just a random mixture of memes, jokes and anecdotes and other light, everyday things. Just an ordinary group chat between friends, I supposed. Even so, it was a comfort to me. Because it was them, the others who had survived with me, a reminder that I wasn't alone in this.

But still, no matter how much I loved being able to be in constant contact with them, being part of a chat with six other people tended to generate a lot of messages, so it took me a good while to read through every single one. I tapped out a few responses to some of the messages, and then on an impulse tapped out a few sentences about Shizuka's protest at being woken up this morning before locking my phone screen and putting it away, looking up at the train posters, but not really seeing them.

 _Seven years, huh_?

I hadn't even imagined that I'd get out in the first place, let alone get out and lead a life. Especially not after Koutarou had been killed. _Executed, executed because of that person's whims…_ I looked around me now, at the different commuters-suited salarymen, people going to other jobs, a few high school boys-and wondered at how ordinary life looked. Wondered how it could be true. I suppose that even after ages of realising that no, the world hadn't ended, it was amazing to see ordinary life go on.

The announcement for my station blared, and I got up, adjusting my grip on my bag and carefully making my way to the train door so that I could get off as soon as the train stopped. A few others did too, a few I vaguely recognised as others who attended my classes, but not anyone I talked to regularly. I let them get off before me when the train stopped, then stepped off myself and beelined straight to the same café I usually met my friends most mornings.

I looked around, but it didn't seem like any of them were there. I wasn't too bothered by this, so after sending a querying message of my own, I looked for an empty table and occupied it. Putting my bag down on the seat next to me, I took out some of the pre-reading notes I'd completed, with the intention of reading through them before any of my friends arrived, but I didn't. Instead, I sat back and looked around me, at my fellow students, talking and laughing, exchanging notes and ideas and complaints. Some on their own, reading, or checking their phones. Ordinary lives, going on all around me.

An ordinary life, which I was finally starting to get a taste of.

 **…**

"Aw, man, I'm completely beat!" my friend Takizawa complained as we left the lecture theatre at the end of the day. "It's too long."

"Yeah, it has been a long day." I agreed, as a bunch of the others we were walking with chimed in with the same.

"Still, at least we don't need to come in again tomorrow." Another girl I didn't know too well pointed out. "I need the sleep!"

"Oh god, same!" another girl added.

"What about the coursework, though?" my other friend Miyano asked. "You do realise that it's due next week, right?"

"Ah, ah, I'll get to it, no worries!"

"Hey, do you all want to get a bite to eat now?" Takizawa asked everyone, changing the subject. Most of the others were quick to jump on the idea, and then Takizawa turned to me.

"How about you, Akamine-Chan?"

"Ah, no, I can't, I've got to get home soon." I replied, shaking my head ruefully.

"Oh, my bad! You've gotta get back to the kid, right?"

"Mhm." I nodded at that, and tried not to yawn. Admittedly, it was true-I did have to get back to Shizuka. But in truth, sometimes these everyday situations just tired me. No matter how much I aspired towards an ordinary life, sometimes I just couldn't.

"Huh, kid?" one of the girls asked. "Akamine-san, you have a _child_?"

"Yeah, she does. A little girl, a real cutie." Miyano explained before I could say anything. "The father isn't around anymore, so Akamine's bringing her up alone. I mean, Akamine's dad lives with them so that helps, but yeah."

"Ehhh, I wouldn't have thought that of you, Akamine-san." The girl says, eyes wide with shock. "I can't imagine juggling that much!"

 _Oh, you don't know the half of it._

"So anyway, where is the dad?"

"I…uh…" _What do I say? What do I say about you, Koutarou?_

"Ah, Yoshikawa-san, Akamine-Chan doesn't like to talk about that!" Takizawa jumped in at that moment, allowing me to breathe.

"Oh, right, sorry!" the girl says.

"It's fine…" I make a half-hearted dismissive gesture and making an effort to smile. It did the trick, because thankfully after that they changed the subject and we talked about other things for the rest of the way, until we got to where I separated ways.

"Right, I'm off to the station now then. See you later!"

"Ah, yeah, of course!" Takizawa replied. "You'll try to join us the next time, right?"

"Yeah, join us next time!" Miyano chimed in.

"I'll try." I said, mustering a smile as I walked off in the opposite direction. Eventually, when I was nearing the station, I relaxed, and sighed.

 _This is hard, sometimes. This ordinary life._

I picked up one of the free evening newspapers and had a read through it while waiting for the train, then threw it away when it came. This time of the day, it was busier than it had been that morning, but I still managed to get a seat. It was the same with the bus, but that wasn't really any different to the morning, so I just dealt with it until I was finally able to get off and walk the rest of the way home.

When I opened the door, Dad and Shizuka were in the hallway, taking off their shoes, apparently having arrived just moments before I had.

"Mummy!" Shizuka spotted me first and leapt at me to hug me, one shoe off and one shoe on. I chuckled at that and returned the hug.

"Don't forget your other shoe and your jacket now." I told her when I let go to take off my own shoes and jacket.

"Okay, Mummy," she said, proceeding to do just that. "I did all my maths homework at Grandma Ana's , you know?"

"Did you now?" I looked over at Dad to confirm, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I did. But I've still gotta do the reading."

"You can do that for me while I'm helping Grandpa make dinner, okay? Let's go and clean ourselves up, okay?"

"Okay!"

Once we were washed and changed, Shizuka positioned herself at the dining room table with her school reading book, and read through it aloud for us while we prepared dinner. I corrected her on some mispronunciations, and Dad asked her a few questions about the story, but mostly we just let her reading be a comfortable sort of background noise while we prepared dinner and served it up.

Dinner itself was a quiet sort of affair. Shizuka did most of the talking, telling us little stories of things that had happened at school. I got her to help with the washing afterwards, and then I took her upstairs to help sort out what she needed for the next day, and to get her ready for bed. I read to her -from a different picture book to the one she was using at school-and then tucked her in and went back down to sit with Dad, who was watching the news on the TV.

"She's asleep now?" he asked without looking up as I sat down next to him.

"Yeah." I replied. "How was work today?"

"Ah, it was more of the same old. How about you? How was university today?"

"It was intense, I guess, but okay. I guess I'm used to it now." I let out a yawn. "Gosh, I'm tired."

"You're alright though?"

"Yeah, yeah." I considered this. _Am I?_ I liked to think I was, and certainly I was starting to feel that this was the case. Yet, sometimes, it didn't feel like that.

 _Still, look how far you've come._

"Yeah, I'm alright." I decided.

"Good, good." Dad nodded, and we sat in silence for a moment.

I remembered, in the early days after coming home, how I'd been clueless to most of what had been going on in the outside world. Misa recorded all the news segments about us and what had happened, and one day, months later when it had all faded away, I watched them all in one sitting, mindlessly. I'm not sure what I felt, then. I remember crying, despite having believed that I had been all cried out. I just remember sitting on this very sofa, watching what was old news to the rest of the world.

"You remember you have an appointment with Doctor Yamamoto tomorrow morning, right?" Dad asked suddenly, startling me out of the memory.

"Yes, I remember." I replied after a moment. "Onee-Chan's picking me up after I've dropped Shizuka off. I'm going shopping afterwards though-is there anything else that we need?"

"Well…" Dad thought about this, then shook his head.

"I can't think of anything now, but if I do, I'll leave a note on the fridge for you. You should go up to bed now, get some sleep."

"Well, I should probably get a little studying in, but yeah. I will." I yawned again, and got up. "Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, Chieko. Sleep well."

I went upstairs, yawned as I brushed my teeth and changed into my pyjamas, and then went to my desk and pulled out my notes, and started to get to work on writing them up. I worked solidly for about an hour, and then spent a little time on the coursework we had due the next week before I started to lose concentration. I stretched and yawned again, and glanced at the time before decisively pushing away my work and checking my phone again.

There were a few messages from the Survivors, mostly a continuation of the light-heartedness of this morning. And then, from a few minutes ago, a message from Akira: _Apparently, they teach about us in schools now._

 _What do you mean?_ I typed back and waited. Almost immediately, the symbol to indicate that he was typing came up, and it took a little while longer before the message was finished.

 _I overheard a small group of middle schoolers on the way home from work,_ he explained. _They were talking about their History lesson, and they mentioned Enoshima's cult._

 _The MKG, too?_ Wakana's reply popped up suddenly.

 _Yes._ Akira typed simply.

 _That's…..strange?_ I replied, adding a confused-faced emoji on an impulse. I waited, and considered. What had happened to us had only happened seven years ago. It was part of _our_ history, sure, but was it long enough yet, to count as history in general? I wasn't sure about that. I also wasn't sure I felt so great about the idea of people learning about us like that. I knew I didn't want Shizuka to find out like that. Then again, he had said it was middle schoolers he had overheard, so there was some time before I needed to be concerned.

I blinked as a message from Wakana came up: _I'm guessing they're local to Towa?_

 _Yes, they were,_ Akira confirmed.

 _I suppose that makes a certain kind of sense. Towa City was the centre of the chaos, after all._ Wakana typed. _But, Kazama-Chan, did the Future Foundation ever talk about this kind of thing while you were there?_

 _Allowing schools to teach about us, I mean -.-'._ She added seconds later.

 _That's true. Surely it's too soon to become part of the curriculum?_ I quickly added.

 _I'm not too sure._ Akira admitted after a moment's hesitation. _I heard nothing of the sort while I worked there. Of course, they could have changed their mind in the meantime._

 _To be fair, a lot of it they could look up online, and where Daisuke-Chan's concerned, Ueno Hall has an information board explaining why it's named that, Wakana_ replied. _So it's not as if it's completely obscure information._

 _Of course, that's true,_ Akira responded

 _The best way to honour the fallen is to remember them,_ Tyson sent. _And that can be done through education. Your curriculums include other tragedies and important aspects of world history, no?_

He'd added an emoji of a red poppy at the end, and I remembered that they were meant to symbolise remembrance of fallen soldiers. Momentarily, that made me smile. In any case, Tyson had a point. Despite it all, I didn't want Koutarou to be forgotten. I didn't want any of my friends and classmates to be forgotten.

 _I suppose…._ I replied hesitantly.

 _Well, in any case, if it was anything major, I suspect that someone would have been in touch to say something,_ Wakana typed after a moment's pause. _I have a feeling that it was just something touched upon, because they're local to where most of it happened._

 _That makes sense, Abe-san,_ Akira typed. _I might call in to ask, though, just for my peace of mind._

 _Let us know, won't you, if you do?_ I asked.

 _Of course, Akamine-san,_ came the instant reply.

After that, the chat went silent, and I regarded it. I did not find I felt the same sort of disconnect with them, nothing like the disconnect I could see so clearly between myself and Takizawa and Miyano and the other girls at uni. To be sure, it was not as if suddenly our shared experience gave us _everything_ in common. And I did enjoy being with my university friends and having that semblance of normality. But that sad, lonely joke of being an SHSL Survivor still united us in a way that nobody else could understand.

If I thought about it, the truth was probably none of us would ever be normal.

Feeling uncomfortable in my desk chair, I got up and went to sit on my bed, and continued to stare at my phone. _When did I last see you all?_ Out of all of them, I probably saw Wakana the most because she tended to drop by if she had concerts or other such things near me, and Tyson the least because he was so far away. Both Wakana and Akira had specifically come to visit me to meet Shizuka when she had been a new-born. At various points with all six others, we'd met over Koutarou's grave. And the same had happened when I had been in a state of mind to go see the others' resting places. Across the years, there had been times when I'd seen one or a few. But all of them? All of us, all together?  
 _It's been seven years._ The last time we were all together was the day we'd been taken back to our homes. Somewhere in the house, I still had that photograph. _That can't be right._

I tapped the screen to write a message, and then hesitated. _Take a deep breath, Chieko,_ I reminded myself again for the nth time _. Take a deep breath._ I obeyed myself, and did just that.

 _I miss you all._ I stared at my typed words, at the blinking cursor. The honesty startled me a little-the last time I'd been that free with my words felt a lifetime away. But there wasn't any other way to put it. So I sent it, and waited.

 _So do I,_ Wakana responded almost immediately. _I've not seen most of you all for a while….._

 _I must agree with that,_ Tyson typed. _It has been a very long time since we've seen each other face-to-face._

 _Since we've ALL seen each other face to face,_ I added.

 _Perhaps we should meet up again then. All of us._ Wakana suggested after this.

 _Sounds like a good idea to me,_ Akira answered. A couple of the others also chipped in at this point, typing quick replies that said much the same thing.

"All of us….meeting up again." I murmured. The SHSL Survivors, reunited again, after all these years. It seemed a strange concept. And yet, even already I could see it, how good that could be for us, how much I wanted and needed this. And so my response was almost automatic:

 _Yes, it does. Let's do it, then._

* * *

 **Characters introduced this chapter:**

 **Survivors  
Chieko Akamine, former SHSL Gardener (belongs to: arans)-protagonist!**

 **Dead  
Koutarou Ueda, former SHSL Lucky Student(belongs to: arans)**

 **((There's also Shizuka Akamine, Chieko and Koutarou's daughter, who also belongs to arans))**

 **I mentioned a bunch of others too, as you'll have noticed, but until they get a more extended appearance in-fic then they don't count as having been introduced yet. I would say they are hinted at, but of course that's nowhere near the same as being introduced. Everyone will get their introductions in one way or another, so don't worry! But anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, even though it wasn't really much more than a look into one of Chieko's days. And from what you've seen of her so far, what do you think of Chieko, either as a protag or just generally?**

 **Speaking of protagonists, what that means in this case is that _most_ of this story will be in Chieko's POV, but there will be other POVs too (of the other survivors, to varying extents). Of course, this leaves me with a bit of a problem as to how to distinguish between the different POVs in a chapter, because I'm writing most of this story in first person (there are special chapters which will be in third person, but when the first of those chapters comes out I will explain that). It's a lot easier to distinguish between POVs in third person, I've found, but not so much in first person.  
I'm currently thinking that at the beginning of a section which starts a new/different POV, I would put the character's first name at the top in italics and underline, underneath the line breaks I use, but do any of you have any other ideas that might be better?**

 **Anyway, the only thing I feel like I need to explain at the moment is my usage of 'former' in listing the introduced characters. This seems obvious to me, but regardless of their status, all the characters are 'former' SHSLs at this point in time, hence my choice to write 'former SHSL Gardener' here and so on. I haven't made this distinction with the list of accepted talents on my profile simply because there they're literally only listed so nobody sends me a character with an already-accepted talent, and there I haven't linked them with their specific characters, whereas here I am linking them, if that makes sense.**

 **But anyway, I am rambling, so I'll just leave it at that and hope that you liked this chapter! Please do leave feedback!**


	3. A Dream That Lost Its Lustre

_Tyson_

Sometimes it struck me as funny that while I would be closing up the shop and getting ready to go home, my six closest friends in this world would be sleeping through the small hours of the morning (or attempting to), or that when I was beginning my day, they were a good chunk through it. Or when I was sitting at my desk in the office at the back of the shop, spending my afternoon reading CVs and application forms and deciding which people to invite for interviews, that it was late at night for them, and they were either already in bed or about to go to bed-much like I was doing now.

But the differences were no hardship to me. Not really. Not in comparison to struggling to adapt to live in a country with a time zone eight hours ahead of mine, and a completely alien culture and a language that I'd had difficulty in grasping quickly enough. And certainly not in comparison to what I had been thrown into whilst there, the ordeal that I had been lucky to escape all those years ago.

 _The ordeal that_ we _escaped,_ I corrected myself as I put yet another CV into the rejections pile, and turned away to look at my phone and the messages piling up. This conversation had started with the revelation that apparently, what had happened to us was now possibly being taught in Japanese schools-something I approved of, even if I would not necessarily be able to bring myself to do that myself-and then eventually had turned into the realisation that we had not seen each other properly, all together, for seven years. That this was something we should fix.

And of course, I agreed with that, too.

 _Before we figure out the details-such as the where and when-probably first we should work out if this is something we'd feasibly be able to do in the first place, given we all have very different commitments and responsibilities,_ Akira had typed.

 _In my case, I don't see that there'll be a problem, but a specific timeframe might help me to be sure,_ Wakana had replied.

 _We're pretty run off our feet with the café,_ Hokuto wrote, sentences sprinkled with emojis. _But I can wrangle something, for sure! In fact, I WILL wrangle something._

 _My job is stable and flexible enough that I would quite easily be able to take a few weeks off-I've not taken any days off for quite a while anyway, so I am owed some holiday,_ was the next thing Akira had written.

 _If we're planning to make this sooner rather than later in the year, could we do something in the summer holidays, once school has broken up?_ Chieko had suggested.

I puzzled over that for a moment, but then realised her reason for asking was probably relating to her daughter, Shizuka. A name that meant quietness, calm or tranquillity, from what I remembered and understood. Thinking of it now, it seemed that the name was fitting, even if the circumstances that had led up to that little girl's existence in the first place were far from tranquil.

" _With that being said, I think we should hear it from Ueda-kun himself before we proceed any further." Daisuke quickly put in before the situation could escalate._

" _Well said, sir!" I replied instantly, before turning to the undoubtedly guilty party. "So then, Uen-Ueda, sir. What do you have to say for yourself in such a situation?"_

 _I had almost mixed up Daisuke's and Koutarou's surnames once again-luckily I'd caught the mistake this time around. And they hadn't noticed this time, which was something. But that wasn't important, as we all turned to see what Koutarou would say or do this time._

" _Koutarou….?" Chieko murmured._

" _Tch." He muttered something incomprehensible, and then sighed and shook his head slightly. "No use denyin' it any longer. You're right."_

" _I knew it! I just knew it…how could you? You….you…."_

" _Kazama-kun." Daisuke cautioned gently._

" _But…..that can't be, that can't be right! That's not…." Chieko started to cry in earnest then._

" _Why? Koutarou, you can't mean that. That's not true, it can't be! That's not right!"_

" _But Akamine-Chan, there's not really any other answer…." Kimihiro tried._

" _The evidence does confirm this…." Kanekatsu sighed, face creased but voice matter-of-fact._

" _Akamine, Ma'am, I understand that this is a painful time for you in particular, as Ueda's friend, but-"_

" _STOP IT! Just….all of you, stop with this, please! Please, can't we go through everything again, from the beginni-"_

" _There isn't anything left to go through, Akamine-san," Daisuke started to say. "There isn't any poi-"_

" _But that's wrong! Koutarou, killing Hibiki-Chan? That's not right, that can't possibly be right, and I don't understand it at all! I don't understand why you're all lying! And Koutarou, too. Why?" at this, she suddenly whipped around to look at him pleadingly._

 _I, too, turned to see what he would say or do. Which apparently seemed to be nothing. I knew that he was an aloof sort of person, a good illustration of the stiff-upper-lip mentality that I normally tended to admire. But in this sort of situation? I was finding it hard to comprehend how he could remain that way._

" _You can't mean that. Don't lie like that, you wouldn't do anything like that, you wouldn't! Right? So stop it, stop lying!"_

 _And that, it seemed, was enough to get a reaction out of Koutarou. His fists tightened, just slightly. And there was no way of missing the tears that leaked out of his closed eyes._

" _Just….Monobear, just get this over with."_

No, those had not been peaceful times. Then again, nothing about war was peaceful, and that had been a war. Not in the same sense as the two World Wars, or any of the other wars from Britain and Europe's wide and varying history, but a war all the same.

Still thinking about that, I tapped out a reply: _School holidays occur around the same time as they do here, don't they? Mid/End of July, going through August as well?_

 _Roughly so, yes,_ Akira was the one to answer. I considered that. Given that the business was small but thriving, between Adam and Laura, whoever else I ended up recruiting after interviewing people, and the two teenage volunteers that would be doing a stint here in August, the shop would probably fine if I were to leave it for a couple of weeks to see my friends. And oh, how badly I wanted to see them. I suppose that I would definitely be making sure to wrangle some time for this-as Hokuto had put it-whatever the circumstances ended up being.

 _That should work for me, in that case,_ I replied.

 _Oh, that's good,_ Chieko responded.

 _Will you be bringing Shizuka-Chan along then, when we do meet up?_ Wakana asked, before I could send a message asking that very thing. There was a pause for a moment, as Chieko took a while to reply

 _I…..I might,_ the answer eventually came.

 _Oh, but it would be nice if you did!_ Hokuto instantly replied. _She's so cute and all!_

 _Well, she already knows Wakana-Chan pretty well in any case…I'll think about it,_ was Chieko's eventual answer. _In any case, I'd best be off to bed._

 _Yes, it is rather late, isn't it?_ Akira commented. I chuckled quietly at that.

 _I'd best be off too, over here I have a lot to do. Talk later._ I added a smiley face to that, and then sent the message off, before locking my phone and deliberately pushing it aside. I then spent the next half-an-hour working through looking at the applications I still had left in the pile. A few were all too easy to dismiss, poorly written or clearly not suited to the job, and all manner of mistakes that were amusing but also a little bit pitiful-in an abstract, unimportant way, I did feel sorry for those people. Others required a little closer examination, but even so, I had a clear pile of about 10 people whom I wanted to invite to interview.

Turning to my computer, I went to open the email application, and then glanced at the time in the bottom-right hand corner, and sheepishly realised that though Laura had gone for one much earlier, Adam hadn't had a lunchbreak yet today. Getting up, I took the rejected CVs and applications and put them in the red box on my bookshelf, so that they could be shredded later, and I left my office and went back out to the shop front.

"Oh, you've been through that pile already? That was fast!" Laura asked from where she was restocking part of the costume section, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yes, more or less. All I have to do is send the interview offers to the ones I've picked."

"Oh, that's cool. Means we should have a new person joining us fairly soon, yes?" Adam asked. "It'll be nice not being the new one, right, Laura?"

"Yup!"

"If all goes well, then yes," I said. "Speaking of which, you've not been on lunch yet, so you'd best go now."

"Cool." Adam sprung up and took his coat off from the back of the chair, before heading out of the door, a bounce in his step as he did so. "I'll see you in an hour."

"It's his Lizzie he's off to meet," Laura informed me as soon as the door swung shut behind him. "He's mad over her."

"I see. Young love is a wonderful thing, isn't it?" I commented, quietly ignoring the small detail that there was only a couple of years of age difference between myself and Adam. Laura laughed throatily at that, though whether it was because of the irony or if she was more cynical, I wasn't sure. I suspected it was a combination of both.

 _Well, young love is a lovely concept when shell-shock doesn't get in the way,_ I thought just over two years, I wasn't exactly bitter about how things had turned out between myself and Dahlia, but I did sometimes feel a little regretful about it all.

But I was making a life for myself. The shop had been up and running for a year and a bit now, I had employees I was friendly with, with a hope of adding to that number. I was alive, and the people I truly cared about were alive, and all things considered, I was healthy and functional. It was a simple life, but I treasured it for the reason that life was something to be treasured.

I'd learnt that the hard way, and there was no way I'd forget now.

"So then, how busy has it been?" I asked Laura, looking around. At the moment, the shop was empty, but I had heard some conversations going on through the door

"A few tourists-Canadian-came by this way, and had a good browse. They were interested in the postcard selection we've got here, and actually bought a set. And another of the tourists bought some replica medals, too. Mr James came by to pick up his orders, and asides from that we've just had a few interested window-shoppers." Laura rattled off efficiently.

"Oh, and a woman came by, said she's part of a new historical re-enactment society down the road, was interested in possibly setting up some sort of regular orders for costumes. Adam took down her details and left them for you by the till."

A quick glance confirmed that he had indeed done that. I carefully peeled the sticky note away, folded it, and tucked it into my trouser pocket, making a mental note to deal with the matter once I'd sent the interview invites. Having a regular customer in the form of a re-enactment society would be quite the boost. If it panned out, I could even make some time to have a visit. The possibilities were promising.

I leaned back in my chair behind the till thinking about this, and regarded the displays of the shop. It was probably worth changing the layout around soon, just a little to make it more interesting. _Maybe just before I fly over to see the others._ But since now the shop was still empty, I got off the chair, and knelt down to unlock one of the drawers, and pulled out my sketchbook and my pencil set.

I flipped the pages over to the next clean one, and then considered who to draw.

" _Did you know that we have a word in Japanese that sounds a lot like your name? It's 'Taisen'.It's our word for 'war'."_

 _I startled at the voice, and it took me a moment to locate it. When I did, all I could do for a moment was stare at the petite, expressionless girl who was now studying me, head tilted slightly, attention distracted from the sheaf of papers she had in her lap, down-turned grey eyes slightly wide. Head still spinning with these unfamiliar-sounding names, it took me a while to match one of them to her._

" _I-I see, Tsukishima, Ma'am." Was all I was eventually able to stutter out. She nodded once at that, and then looked back down at whatever she had been focusing on. I waited for a moment, wondering if there was some procedure of etiquette I was meant to follow. If there was, it eluded me, so after a moment, I decided to continue on my way, and did just that._

I was glad that the memory wipe we'd endured had not gone far back enough to wipe this one memory. I can't imagine that Yashiro could have realised it at the time, because of course to her the coincidence must have just been a thing that tickled her interest, but that comment had struck me in a way I hadn't expected anything to. It had given me hope that I would be able to belong in this extraordinary school in that very different country.

And it had been the catalyst that allowed me to start to open up and make friends. Apparently, I had even joined her, Chieko, Koutarou and a few others to see The Wishing Tree, which had been quite famous in Towa City back then, but that was something I didn't remember. That day had also apparently been the day the tree had been blown up by a bomb-but I didn't remember that, either. None of us did.

I wish I did, though.

" _Oh no, it's happened again, hasn't it?" Kimihiro blurted out as soon as he arrived._

" _Clearly it has." Daisuke said, voice clipped. Coming up behind them, I couldn't see their faces, or who the new victim was, but I saw the conductor's shoulders shaking, and I knew he was horrified, much like everyone else._

" _Upupu! Attention, everyone! Another body has been discovered! After a short amount of time for the investigation, the class trial will commence!"_

" _Oh piss off, Monobear." I heard Koutarou mutter. It was a sentiment we all shared, I imagined, and if it wasn't for the situation, I may even have allowed myself a chuckle at his spark._

" _But…why? Why is this happening again? Poor Hitsuji-Chan!" Hibiki sniffled, peering around from Akira's shoulder, fingers digging into his arm as he shook his head in obvious dismay. Confused, I wondered why she was talking about sheep, but then I got close enough, and spotted pale purple hair, and realised that she hadn't actually been talking about literal sheep at all._

" _T-The victim is Tsukishima this time?" I asked, pushing past Kimihiro and Oshiro._

" _It is." I looked down to see Kanekatsu kneeling carefully by Yashiro, who was face-down in a pool of blood. For a moment, all I could do was stare. It had happened again._ This wasn't supposed to happen. _I'd hoped that the first time was a one-off, an aberration. But no. This was going to become a regular occurrence, if we didn't keep fighting. So after a moment, I knelt next to Kanekatsu._

" _Do you need assistance in turning her over, Ma'am?"_

 _Kanekatsu narrowed her eyes as she regarded me, visibly sizing me up. She was doing her best to remain level, but she had spent a lot of time with Yashiro, and I understood them to be particularly close friends from this._

" _I'm not able to determine a cause of death from looking at her like this, so your assistance would very much be appreciated." She said eventually, sighing as she did so._

" _Then, I suppose that the rest of us should split up into teams to investigate." Akira suggested heavily._

" _Y-yeah, we should!" Wakana agreed, still looking very grey. "Chieko-Chan, will you help me?"_

" _Okay. Koutarou, come with us?"_

" _Sure, sure, Moyashi."_

 _I ignored the bustle, and assisted Kanekatsu, carefully turning Yashiro over and laying her on her back, reminding myself that she was no longer with us, that I would not be offending her sensibilities anymore._

 _When we were done, I automatically reached over to close her eyes, but then realised that it had already been done._ Oh _. Whether she'd died that way or the killer had done it themselves, I could not say. The first of us who had chosen to kill had certainly not granted their victim that one last courtesy, but who was to say that this one was the same?_

 _I looked over at Kanekatsu, who was carefully examining the nasty throat wound that had apparently been her cause of death, while comparing the information we'd been given on our Electro-IDs and making notes. As she had done so before, she was methodical and efficient, but this time, her motions seemed heavier._

 _Then, hearing footsteps approaching, I looked up to see Daisuke standing, staring down at us. Kanekatsu either didn't notice or chose to ignore him for the moment, and she kept searching Yashiro's body for clues. He peered at us over his glasses, overall demeanour doing nothing to hide the fury clear in his eyes. He also had a folded white sheet draped over his arm, and it was this he held out to us._

" _When you have finished, use this for Tsukishima-san." He said. I met his eyes uncertainly, but then nodded and saluted him._

" _As you wish, sir!" I took the sheet from him, and he nodded at me once before going elsewhere to assist with investigations. I looked to Kanekatsu, but it didn't appear she was finished, so I remained quiet and watched for a moment. Then, I reached out and put a hand on Yashiro's shoulder._

" _Rest now, soldier." I murmured quietly, before getting up and moving to a spot where I could better see everything, and taking up my duty as a guard once again._

"Tsukishima…."

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"No, no." I dismissed, jolted back to the present. I looked back down at the blank page again. Since I was thinking about her, I decided that I would make this sketch one of Yashiro. It was not the first I'd done of her, but then again, I'd done multiple drawings (that eventually became paintings) of all our fallen classmates. So I took up a pencil, and brought to mind her doll-like face and tiny stature, and started to draw from the memories I had. I could improve on it when I went home, and then again when I turned it the image into one of my paintings.

"Oh? Is that going to end up as a new display painting?" Laura asked curiously, referring to the different depictions of war scenes I had painted as part of the shop's décor. I shook my head.

"No. This is more of a….personal project."

"Huh." Having finished with sorting out the costume section, Laura came over and took one of the other chairs behind the till, before peering over my shoulder at the drawing.

"Pretty. From what I can see, anyway." She commented. "Someone you know?"

"Yes," Is all I was willing to say.

Thankfully, Laura didn't pursue it. I wasn't sure how much she would have known about the events of seven years ago-the media here went quite mad when I returned, and Hope's Peak was the main headline for a while, especially since there was the whole angle of a British teenager being caught up in the horror that had struck one of the most elite Japanese schools. Also in the same age group, she would have been old enough to be aware of this hubbub. My missing finger was also very noticeable. But still, I would not talk about it, so whatever she knew, it was a good thing she had the sense to not mention it.

"You're actually quite good. How come you never considered going to art school or anything like that?"

"That was just a path that wasn't really for me. In any case, art isn't that sustainable a career, isn't it?"

"Ah that's true, that's true. The art world is supposed to be a bit unstable at times, from what I've heard."

"In any case, how are your studies coming along? You're doing English Literature, am I correct? Third year, like Adam?"

"Right about the subject, wrong about the year. I'm still second-took a gap year first, remember?"

"Ah, yes." I nodded sagely. Now she mentioned it, I did remember some of the details, in bits and pieces, the way these small-talk type details tended to be.

"But, yeah, that's going alright at the moment. Right now, I'm…"

For a few minutes I listened to her describe the details of the work she was doing for her degree, and then we switched to talking about the summer, whether the weather would be properly summery or if we'd have a rather more dismal summer instead. I said nothing of my possible plans, but agreed with her that I hoped for a good summer anyway. After a little while though, the conversation petered out, and I returned to my sketchbook, continuing to fill in the details, gradually bringing Yashiro to life, as it were.

After some moments of this, the door opened, and two customers arrived, apparently separate from each other. One started to browse, but the other approached the till straight away, so I closed the sketchbook and put it and the pencils aside. The afternoon lull was over now, and it was time to get back to business.

"Either of you the owner of this place by any chance?" The customer asked.

"That would be me." I smiled widely, and stood up. "Tyson De Guerre, at your service. How may I help you today?"

 **…**

 _Wakana_

Somehow, without realising it, I had whiled the night away.

Then again, that wasn't too much of a surprise. I'd lost so many nights over the years, that sometimes I wondered what one more would be in the grand scheme of things. The heavy sleepiness was always preferable to the dreams of those times, even if sometimes I found myself yawning and struggling to keep my eyes open while getting myself ready for the day.

But this morning was not one of those mornings, at least not so much. I was yawning, that was for sure, yet as I stumbled to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, I felt somehow lighter. It was hard to pin down, exactly, but it was a change for sure, and I was pleased for it.

 _Perhaps it's hope,_ I mused, regarding myself in the bathroom mirror for a moment as I continued to brush my teeth. Not the hope that Hope's Peak had stood for-there would never be anything like that, ever again, but all the same a kind of hope. Because we had been happy there once, and oh how I missed those times. The people who I'd spent those times. Not just Daisuke, but all of them. They weren't coming back, and I knew that full well, but still, that hadn't stopped me from yearning, and I didn't think I ever would. _Still, I'm not alone with that._ I washed my face and dried off, and then went to my bedroom to change, and as I considered my clothes choices and then selected them, I already found myself mentally deciding which ones I would pack when the time came. It would make a change, travelling for friends, instead of for work.

Though of course I couldn't forget how many years it had been since we'd all been trapped in there, I sometimes also forgot that it had been that many years since the seven of us had been together last. Seven years since we'd escaped together with our lives, recuperated first in hospital and then at Togami's. Seven years since we'd cried together and helped each other with identifications and made tentative plans for the lives we'd have afterwards, seven years since we'd called ourselves SHSL Survivors and toasted to it with biscuits instead of any sort of drink.

 _Perhaps this time we can do a proper toast,_ I thought, as I searched my dressing table for my hairbrush and eventually found it. Certainly, we were all old enough to do that now. But perhaps we could toast to the dead, as well, not just us. To Daisuke, Koutarou, Hibiki and the rest. After all, it was as Tyson had pointed out before-the best way to honour the dead was to remember them. It is what I did, every day of my life. Every new piece I wrote, every concert I conducted or assisted at, every waking breath. It was, in a way, an act of remembrance. And I didn't want to forget any of them. It was bad enough discovering the memory wipe, realising we'd had so many more happy memories before the horror, but that we'd never get them back again. But to forget what we'd been allowed to keep, as it were? There was no way. There was just no way I could do that.

How could I forget any of them, when one of them was my best friend? _Daisuke-Chan…._

Tying my hair into a ponytail, I swiftly started to plait it and then quickly tied it up, before crossing over to pull my curtains, humming a tune absently as I did so, only to yawn midway through and interrupt myself. The silliness made me smile for a moment, as I looked out of the window.

"We're going to see each other again." I said aloud, looking at the view. "We're all going to see each other again at last."

 _If just thinking of it is enough to lighten the hurt, then perhaps the real thing will be enough to help me move forward._

Putting my hand to the glass for a moment, I considered that. I hoped that would be the case. Given that I was here, I supposed I hadn't been completely static over these years. But in some ways, I was stuck.

" _Oh, hey, you're awake!" I blinked as my vision cleared a little and I attempted to sit up. Hokuto's face loomed in front of mine, her eyes wide as she studied me. I frowned back, but she didn't seem deterred at all. Then, she leaned back and yelled out._

" _Guys, it's all good, she's alive!"_

" _Ho-Chi, that's not funny! But, oh, thank goodness!" almost out of nowhere, Chieko appeared and knelt down in front of me, though she didn't lean in as much as Hokuto had. "Are you alright, Wakana-Chan?"_

" _I…." I blinked again, more slowly. I was feeling a little sluggish, now I was thinking of it, and my head was spinning. And even more oddly, my throat hurt, as if I'd screamed or something recently._

" _What…..what happened? Did I trip over or something?"_

" _Noooo, silly." Hokuto shook her head. "You screamed out for us, and when we came running, you were out cold! We thought you were dead."_

" _She's right, pretty much." Chieko sighed. "We were worried for a moment there, that you had died as well, but it was pretty clear that you'd just fainted, but it's understandable….."_

" _As well?" the significance of those words didn't elude me. "So someone else is dead?"_

 _Chieko didn't answer, instead seeming to drift off for a moment, eyes seeing something not here. Not seeing me. After Koutarou, she'd been doing that quite a lot, sometimes with no real trigger that I could discern. But this was different, as if something specific to this moment troubled her._

" _Chieko-Chan?"_

 _She blinked at me, and then suddenly took one of my hands in hers, enveloping it._

" _Wakana-Chan, do you remember what you were doing before you fainted?"_

" _Huh? Sure…." I thought about that for a moment, mentally outlining, aware of Chieko's eyes on me. Hokuto watched us for a moment, but then got up and went away, and a few moments later, I started to realise something._

" _Wait." I sat up straighter, and looked around. "Wait, wait, wait. Daisuke-Chan? Where's Daisuke-Chan? He's not the….he isn't…."_

" _Wakana-Chan…."_

" _Daisuke-Chan!" I called out, half getting up, only to see Tyson kneeling and setting a length of cloth-which looked rather like one of the bedsheets from one of our beds-over a distinctly human form._ No, no, no. _And I didn't need to look to know to realise who it was._

" _That's Daisuke-Chan's job!"_

 _A stupid thing to say, but it was all I could think of. Daisuke had done that all the other times, finding something to cover up our poor classmates and give them some semblance of dignity. That's what he had always done. He shouldn't have had to do that at all, but in this sort of situation, what else could you do? This was Daisuke's job in this mess we were trapped in. It didn't make sense that Tyson was doing so instead._

Of course it makes sense, _I scolded myself even as I thought this._ If he's not here, then someone still has to do that.

" _Abe, Ma'am! I'm sorry." Tyson, having adjusted the blanket/bedsheet, strode over purposefully, and came to stand by Chieko. He didn't kneel down, remaining standing instead, and I had to crane my neck to look at him. It didn't help that he was taller than Daisuke._

" _Y-you're sorry? So, you mean that…Daisuke-Chan's really….?" I knew how to complete the sentence, but I could not make myself say it._

" _Yes, Abe, Ma'am. Unfortunately, Ueno has become another unfortunate victim to this atrocious game."_

" _No…..that doesn't make sense….Daisuke-Chan….." Feeling my eyes well up, I wrenched my hand away from Chieko's violently and tried to get up again. "Daisuke-Chan, dead? That's not right, it can't be. It_ can't _be!"_

 _But of course, it was. I remembered now, I remembered all too well. I'd been the first to find him, after all. Skidding in here, without a care in the world at first, I'd seen, all too clearly and everything had changed. The pooling blood…..so much blood. I'd seen. I remembered now._

" _I….I can't, I can't…..this isn't fair. Not Daisuke-Chan….why….?"_

 _Almost on my feet, my legs gave out again and buckled underneath me, and everything blurred with hot, almost humiliating tears. Tyson quickly stepped forward and grabbed my arm to prevent me from falling, and Chieko leapt up, and before I could really process it she had wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in, rubbing circles on my back as I wailed. I heard a few of the others approach ask, ask what was happening, but their voices all blurred and blended into each other as I tried to figure out how my body could handle the weight of this unescapable reality. The weight of Daisuke's permanent absence._

"It's not fair…" I murmured to myself, echoing one of the many protests I had made in that moment. Because it absolutely wasn't. It should have been both of us coming out of that. It should have been _all_ of us. Instead, we were utterly decimated, and now there was just seven of us, where once there had been a grand eighteen. _At least they're there. All that's left. At least they're there._

"We're going to see each other again." I told myself aloud, before laughing hollowly again. Well, perhaps in this case talking to myself was a good sign rather than a bad. And on that note, I reminded myself I really needed to get going if I didn't want to be late.

 **…**

As I approached the community centre, I took my earphones out of my ears and paused the Heero track that I had been listening to. Looking down at the screen of my music player, I absently realised that it was one of his posthumously-released tracks. _Huh._ Given that I'd just decided to put a random playlist on shuffle, it's not as if this was some strange occurrence, but there was something a little disconcerting about that realisation, another reminder of what had been lost.

" _Well, on the surface our genres of music seem pretty incompatible and all, right?. But from what I understand, it's all still music, and we're all still musicians, right?"_

" _That's exactly right! Music is music, it connects people together no matter their other differences! Admittedly, I'm not really sure I understand your stuff as much, but I can tell that it's good, and that it's meant to have a certain feel to it, that it's supposed to engage and inspire, just like I hope my compositions do! So yeah, I agree. I'm so pleased you think that, Arata-Chan!" I exclaimed happily._

" _Ehehe," Kimihiro rubbed the back of his neck and regarded us sheepishly. "So, how about it?"_

 _We turned to Daisuke, who had been regarding our exchange with a raised eyebrow and an expression that had started off puzzled and now seemed amused. He now considered us for a moment, before giving a decisive nod._

" _It'll be a bit of a challenge, but I don't mind taking that on. I think we need something to take our minds off of everything that's been happening here, after all."_

Of course, later, once I was out with the others, we discovered that actually, we'd done something similar before we'd ended up in the game, only on a bigger, more celebratory scale, for the school festival. Apparently, it had been received well, by both Kimihiro's fans and my own. Perhaps something could have come from it, if Daisuke was still alive, if Kimihiro was still alive. If everyone was still alive, I concluded as I wrapped my earphones around the music player, slipped them into my bag, and walked into the community hall.

This early in the morning, not many people were around-mostly staff members, going around getting things ready for the day, but I noticed that a meeting room across from reception seemed to be occupied already, and the theatre was definitely ready for the first play of the day.

"Good morning, Abe-san." One of the people at the reception desk called out to me as I walked past.

"Good morning, Tachibana-san!" I called back out. "It's quiet this morning, isn't it?"

"Apart from you guys practising, the drama troupe doing their final rehearsals before their first showing tonight, and a few council meetings, it isn't that busy this morning. But no doubt with the usual after-school things going on, it'll be a lot different this afternoon!"

"Yes, I'm sure it will be. Have a good day." I called out.

"You too, Abe-san! I can't wait to hear your new pieces!"

At that, I smiled thinly and continued on my way, clattering across hallways and up staircases to arrive at the concert hall, at which point my steps started to slow out of habit until I reached the noticeboard, affixed to the wall next to the great double doors, and as always, I read it through, running my finger across the glass protecting the printed words.

 _Ueno Hall_

 _Used primarily for music concerts and competitions, the Ueno Hall has been a part of the Plum Tree Community Centre since its opening, but was renamed in late 2010, as a tribute to the life and memory of late young conductor Daisuke Ueno._

 _Ueno, aged 17, was one of 11 victims who lost their lives in March 2010 to what has become widely known as the Hope's Peak Mutual Killing Game, all members of the final class to attend the school. The 'killing game' was just one of many atrocities committed by the cult group known as 'Remnants of Despair' between 2009-2010 in an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to bring about the world's end._

 _Ueno frequently conducted performances at this hall, he was very much respected, not just by fellow classical musicians, but by the wider community here too, and was also noted for having a strong friendship and working relationship with Wakana Abe, a popular young classical composer who was one of seven who were able to escape the 'killing game'. He is survived by his parents and two siblings._

Below this, the list of notable performances and orchestras he had conducted at, including a note about the movie sound-track that had eventually gotten us both noticed by Hope's Peak (though they didn't mention _that_ detail about it). And to the right, four photographs, each with a brief caption stating year and location.

The first, a portrait photograph with a calming feel to it, which I recalled as having been used in the programme of a Tchaikovsky-centric concert he'd conducted not too long before we'd set off to Hope's Peak. The shirt he'd worn for that picture matched his eyes almost perfectly, a detail I remembered joking with him about afterwards.

The second, taken at the awards ceremony for the movie, also included me, and we both were dressed to the nines for that occasion-Daisuke looking every inch the conductor, the sheer material of the skirt portion of my dress catching the light and sparkling. We were standing side by side, each of us holding an award and smiling-though I supposed my smile was a lot closer to a cheesy grin especially when compared to Daisuke's composure-, it was clear we were attempting to pose for the picture while still holding a conversation with someone just slightly out of the frame. Strangely enough, though I remembered laughing at the absurdity of it, these days I could not for the life of me remember who it was we had been talking to at the time, or even what reporter had taken that picture. It had nothing to do with the memory wipe at all, as far as I knew, but those details eluded me. But it a picture that had warm memories attached to it-we'd been so proud of ourselves, especially the joint awards we'd received.

The third was an informal shot of him sitting on a picnic blanket in the grass in the summer, adjusting his glasses as he appeared to be listening very carefully to whatever the person holding the camera had been saying. It was a cropped version of an image that had also included his father and brother, and I think it had been taken at a birthday picnic for his sister. But I knew that she had also been the one to take this picture, and had been the one to give it in, when the idea of the hall being renamed had been brought up.

The last and final picture always made something feel heavier inside me, because I had no memory attached to it. It was a Hope's Peak class picture, taken only a couple of months before the unthinkable would happen, with the intention of including it in that year's yearbook, apparently. We were all there-I was standing slightly in front of Daisuke, and I had Chieko on one side of me, and Yashiro on the other. Yukizome was also in the photo, standing off to the side but still very close, beaming and making a gesture as if to say 'look at my awesome students!' .And honestly, we did all look pretty awesome. But noting that always felt like a cold and clinical observation, instead of the warm fuzzy feelings I knew I should have had from seeing it.

My fingers made fuzzy prints on the glass as I lingered over the image of my face in this final picture. That Wakana seemed almost a stranger to me now-I certainly didn't see her when I looked at myself in the mirror. I barely recognised myself in that Wakana, uninhibitedly radiating joy, surrounded by friends. But I knew that I'd been her, once, because I longed for it.

 _Ah, I should go in soon._ The members of my orchestra were coming in soon, and though the chairs we needed would already be out, there were still things to prepare before we started the day. So I pulled my sleeve over my hand, and rubbed the fingerprints away. Then, after allowing myself a final look at the noticeboard, I pushed the door and went in. Letting it swing behind me, I went around and turned on all the lights, and then walked down the rows of seats, down to the front, and looked up at the stage, sticking my hands in my pockets.

The hall always looked so strange, empty. It wasn't disconcerting anymore, given that now I always arrived earlier than the rest of them, as an example, but it was still unusual. I gave it a moment, and then I folded out a seat and sat down on it, and gazed at the empty stage, at the chairs all lined up, and I tried to imagine the future dreams I'd once had.

But of course, as always, all that my mind would let me see was Daisuke's body, _all_ their bodies, lying in the dark, all lost to us forever.

* * *

 **(reupload to fix a couple of typos)**

 **Characters introduced this chapter:**

 **Survivors**

 **Tyson De Guerre, former SHSL World War 1 Aficionado (belongs to: dashunterman)  
Wakana Abe, former SHSL Classical Composer (belongs to: CandiedStars)**

 **Dead**

 **Yashiro Tsukishima, former SHSL Linguist (belongs to: chiaki ebooks)  
Daisuke Ueno, former SHSL Conductor (belongs to: CandiedStars)**

 **Random Fact About This Chapter You Probably Didn't Need To Know (But I'm Sharing Anyway): I've been listening to a chorus cover of Police Piccadilly's song 'Lyrical Stabilizer', and it ended up being my soundtrack for writing Wakana's portion of this chapter and the influence of the song is why the chapter ends on a sad note. Also the title of this chapter references part of the lyrics.**

 **But...anyway, regarding the SYOC, deadline etc still the same for now, but I'll update my profile shortly after uploading with what I'm still looking for and what I'll be doing next and when to next expect an update. And taking on combinations of the advice I've got, I will indicate POV changes in the normal chapters by putting the character's first name italicised, underlined and center-aligned at the beginning of the section that starts off the POV, and I hope that'll be a clear enough system for everyone! Speaking of clearness, I hope it's clear from context and the like that I use italics in different ways-to indicate messaging, thoughts or flashbacks. I am making sure that from the way I include those bits in the chapter and the general context that it is clear, but if ever you're confused, let me know and I'll clear things up for you. I wish the document editor had different formatting options though. Using a different font for phone messages would have been a nice touch. But oh well.**

 **Also, I changed the wording of the story summary a little, because I realised how I had it before made it seem a touch sinister, when well...the story is obviously dark, given the subject matter, and I suppose revealing the past will have some creepy moments. But the story itself is about the drama and exploration of the aftermath of something so devastating, so it'll definitely go up and down with the emotions, but it isn't so much a menacing thing in the way a story that was actually had the MKG as the present timeline would be. I guess that'd be kinda obvious anyway, but yeah, I looked at the summary and thought it was kind of misleading. Hence the change.**

 **Not much else to say this time around, so I'll leave it at that. As always, please leave me feedback!**


	4. Take Me With You

**So...Storm Doris was a thing this week...the compost bin we have in our back garden nearly blew away from the wind (though we did find it), part of next door's trampoline ended up in the garden opposite to them, and of course as with all adverse weather conditions, there were transport delays everywhere. And actually, I had to put up with a whole bunch of public transport delays in getting to uni this week in general. Fun times =P**

 **But anyway, I changed my mind somewhat about waiting for my survivor spot to fill up before doing the next chapter-mostly because it felt like too long of an interval between chapters. So yeah, I'm still looking for one more survivor, and three dead, and for now the deadline is the 12th of March-two weeks from now. As always, the more up-to-date info about this SYOC is on my profile, so if you're going to submit a new character, make sure to check what I've said there before proceeding.**

 **I've not got much else to say this chapter, so as always, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please do leave feedback.**

* * *

 _Akira_

"There's someone here to see you, Kazama-san."

"There is?" Surprised, I took a quick look at the open diary on my desk, and then at the time. "Who is it?"

"Er…a Kazuki Kita-san?"

"Ah, okay. Let him in, in that case. " I couldn't think of a reason he'd visit me today, but I liked him well enough that I didn't mind anyway. And it would be a welcome break from going through emails and then preparing for the afternoon's meeting.

"Oh, you know him?" my colleague asked, looking slightly startled.

"Yeah, I do." When my colleague remained standing there, looking unsure, I sighed resignedly, reminding myself to give him some leeway, given that he was new.

"Really, it's fine."

"Oh, well, if you say so, Kazama-san…"

My colleague scurried away, and a few moments later Kazuki appeared in the doorway.

"Hello there, Akira-kun. You _are_ free right now, right?"

"Yes, sure, I'm not doing anything particularly important…you may as well come in properly, close the door behind you. "

"Sure thing." Kazuki closed the door and then headed straight to the chair opposite my desk, plopping heavily into it before adjusting himself and looking at me. I stared back and waited, curious.

"How are things at the Foundation, then, Kita-san?" I asked politely after a moment.

"Ehh, same as usual, I suppose. We were able to locate someone else today, identify him and return him to his family. A father of two-his youngest never got the chance to meet him…."

Kazuki trailed off and looked up at the ceiling of my office, lost in thought, and that's how I knew that this father of two had been found dead, and not as a living, breathing person. I supposed it was a small mercy that he'd found and returned in the first place but…I could understand how that felt like a failure anyway, something I knew far too well.

 _Because I didn't protect you, Hibiki._

"I'm sorry to hear that. But at least that family knows now, they know what happened to him, thanks to you and the others."

"Yeah….I know. I know." Kazuki shrugged heavily. "That doesn't help the way it feels though, you know. Then again, I guess you do, that's why you never worked with us, while you were still Foundation."

At that, he shrugged heavily again, but straightened and returned his gaze to me.

"Pretty much, yes." I agreed. "I still admire you all for persevering with it."

"Yes, well, someone has to, don't they?" Kazuki pulled a face. "And besides, as long as Hikari is still out there, waiting to be found, it's not like I can stop."

I nodded once at the mention of Kazuki and Masashi's little sister, who had gone missing during the worst of the riots that had preceded the Mutual Killing Game. _As long as you don't know, there's still hope._ I didn't have that hope. There was no possibility that Hibiki could be okay, that she could ever walk back through the door to drag me into escapades and constantly call me 'Rika-Chin' in the manner that always used to annoy me so much, or ask me to help her with revising for exams, or have me watch her bring beloved characters to life. That would never happen.

But still, I couldn't envy Masashi and Kazuki for the possibilities they still had. It was just a different type of hurt, after all. And none of us Survivors escaped unscathed. _We all lost something, during those times._

"But in any case, that's not really why I'm here."

"I suspected that was the case."

"Yeah. But anyway, Masashi mentioned something about how you think that maybe schools are teaching about the stuff you guys went through?"

I had to think a moment, and then I remembered that's what we'd all been talking about on the group chat, before we'd decided that we were going to have a reunion. I'd been meaning to make some phone calls to the friends I'd made while I had still been at the Future Foundation to find out about that, but then I'd been swept up in work and forgotten. Though, to be fair, it had only been a few days or so.

"Yeah….?" Idly, I plucked a pen from my desk tidy and fiddled with it.

"Nah, it was just something he mentioned in passing at dinner time, and he did say you would probably try to ask, but I figured I could poke around, given that I'm still actually there, you know? That sort of thing isn't really in my remit, but I didn't mind doing it."

"Ah, I see." _Ah, that's a relief._

"So, what did you find out?"

"Well, as you suspected, not that much of a big deal." Kazuki leaned back in his chair and stretched before continuing.

"It's a new topic they're testing out, as part of the Social Studies syllabus. It's not just about what you guys went through specifically, but the entire thing, everything about the Remnants of Despair and what they tried to do. And I think they're also trying to raise awareness of cults, particularly the dangerous ones like the Remnants, given so many kids got caught up with them, the idea being to try and prevent something like that from happening through teaching them the impact. I don't really know about how education works, so I'm probably explaining that badly, but does that make sense?"

"Yeah, no, that does make sense to me." I said slowly. "Something they're testing, you say?"

"Yeah, that's right. They're mostly testing it out on the schools in Towa, and if after a suitable interval they think it works, they'll be working with schools in the rest of Japan to try and implement it nation-wide. With that being said, it's not something they're making a huge deal about-they're just trying to do it unobtrusively, so it just becomes a normal topic, and I heard from Takeda-san that the entire process will probably take over a few years. So as far as getting new unwanted attention goes, I wouldn't worry too much."

"Ah, I see. I see. You didn't need to do this for me, Kita-san." I replied. Kazuki shook his head firmly.

"It's no trouble at all, Akira-kun. Not just because you're Masashi's friend, but also because you're mine, as well."

I smiled at that.

"In which case, thank you."

"So anyway, Masashi also mentioned you guys are having a little reunion thing in the summer." Kazuki changed the subject swiftly.

"Yeah, in August, when it's the summer holidays. I'm looking forward to it. Are….you concerned about that?" the thought suddenly occurred to me, but once again, Kazuki shook his head.

"Don't be silly, Akira-kun. I think it'll be good for Masashi to do something a little different for a change, especially with you guys. "He replied, grinning. "So you guys make sure that you have fun, okay? Ah, and before that, let's go out to eat sometime, alright? Some of the other guys are saying it'd be cool to hang out a little too, for old times' sake."

"That sounds like a good idea. When are you next free?" I asked, pulling my diary to me and starting to flick through. We spent a few moments negotiating a date, and then once we had agreed on it, Kazuki got up and left, stating that he didn't want to keep me from work longer than need be.

Once he had left, the office felt almost hollow in its silence, and I just sat there for a moment, not quite ready to get back to working. Idly, I scanned the different items on my table, and my eyes fell on the photo on my desk, a family photo taken just before Hibiki and I had left for Hope's Peak. Mum, Dad, Yasu, Hibiki and then me. A happy family of five. Now, there were only two of us left.

 _It shouldn't have been like that._

I could still remember it, the moment that I had discovered Hibiki's body, in the kitchen of Hope's Peak Academy. I had been looking for her, because it was nearly night-time according to the rules we were forced into, and nobody seemed to know where she was, and I had found her.

Then, after escaping, waking up and remembering everything, yet not fully being able to understand that it meant Hibiki was no longer with me, until I searched my friends' faces looking for hers and came up empty. And later, in the process of recovering, sitting in one of the hospital's visitor rooms as Naegi gravely informed me that while I had been trapped, Mum and Dad had died, turning my world upside down once again, shaking it and tipping out the contents.

I remembered it all.

But it was strange. Finding out about my parents had been devastating, and I still missed them. But I could make sense of their deaths, I could understand and accept it had happened. That wasn't the case with Hibiki. That was not something I could really understand, or ever make sense of. How does one make sense of a situation like that anyway? And, my main motivation for going to Hope's Peak with her in the first place had been to look after her-but I had failed in that, completely and utterly.

 _I'm sorry, Hibiki. I'm so, so, sorry._

"No, stop it." I let out a deep breath, rubbed my head.

Hibiki continued to beam sunnily at me through the photograph, and I turned it away and then turned my head deliberately. On a logical level, I knew that this, too, was something that I couldn't have controlled. But it was different. As Hibiki's brother, and as the leader of the class. There had to have been something, surely, something that I could have done, but yet I hadn't-this was the thought that had wormed its way into my heart and grown there, and no amount of logic would ever displace it. _And I deserve that._

Rubbing my head again, I got up rapidly. _Stop that, just stop._ I needed to get out of the room for a while, clear my head. I wouldn't be able to work properly with all of this swimming in the forefront of my mind. Not that it would ever disappear, but if I could push it back, then I could continue to function. Walking over to my coat hook, I rummaged through the pockets of my coat, but didn't find any cigarette packet. No big deal. I could just incorporate a cigarette break into a short walk to buy some more-there was the shop just down the end of the road, after all.

So I went back to my desk and unlocked the bottom drawer to take out my bag and find my wallet. Once I had, I put everything else back, then went back to my coat and took it down, shrugging it on and slipping my wallet into the pocket. I considered things for a moment, then quickly returned to my desk once again to readjust the position of the photo. Because once I had cleared my head, I knew I'd want to easily see them again, no matter how much my guilt taunted me.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

I paused for a moment at the entrance, needing a moment to work up the courage. Florists, garden stores, I used to visit them with such frequency that I suppose it could be said I was haunting them. But now, of course, it would be more apt to say that such places haunted me now, instead.

"Chie-Chan, are you okay?" I looked over at Ana, and mustered a smile as I nodded.

"Yeah, I am. " I took in a deep breath, and then looked down at Shizuka, who had been watching us both expectantly. "Shall we go and choose some flowers for Daddy then?"

"Yeah." Shizuka asserted earnestly, as we went in and started to look around. This particular florists was small, but reasonably well stocked with a range of different flowers-a lot of bright ones, this time around, considering it was the summer. I'd come here a few times before in the past back when I had been gardening, but now this seemed to be my main place to go for cemetery-visit flowers.

"Do you see anything you like?" Ana asked me after a moment.

"I'm not sure…." _They're all so pretty._ That much, I could still appreciate. But it was always hard to choose which ones to take to Koutarou-he'd never really been interested in anything to do with gardens to have a strong opinion of any kind of flower. But even so, I always deliberated carefully. _I want it to be just right._

"Shizu-Chan, "Ana called suddenly to Shizuka, who was crouching and intensely studying a display of cheerful yellow marigolds. "D'you want to choose the flowers this time?"

Shizuka whipped around at that, and had to push some of her fringe out of her eyes.

"Can I? I can choose? The colours and everything?" she asked eagerly as she bounced back up and over to us. I couldn't help but laugh at her excitement.

"Yes, the colours and everything. It's up to you."

"Okay!" she turned right back around and spun in a slow circle, as if taking in her measure of the shop. A couple of other customers busy browsing some of the roses looked over and chuckled before going back to their own business.

"I don't know which ones are prettier….but can we get purple flowers, Mummy?"

"Of course we can. Let's look at all of them properly, so you can decide which purple flowers to choose."

So we walked around the shop a few times, closely examining all the purple flowers that the florists had to offer and debating their merits patiently while I tried not to be reminded of the different places I had planted each of them at one time or another. Eventually, Shizuka decided on a mixed bouquet, and I rushed to wait outside while Ana kept Shizuka with her, and paid for them, before coming out, carrying the flowers in a bag. Shizuka skipped up to me and took my hand, and then we started to walk down to the cemetery.

"Mummy, why did you wait outside?" Shizuka asked me after a few moments.

"Ah…well….." _Because beautiful things make me sad and sometimes I can't bear it._ "It was a little bit stuffy in there."

"Stuffy?"

"Sort of hot, when the air feels kind of thick?" I attempted to explain. Shizuka frowned at me.

"It wasn't hot in there, Mummy!"

"Yes, well….." I struggled for a moment, and then shrugged, exchanging a look with Ana. Shizuka caught the look, and frowned comically at us, but she didn't ask anything more and just left it at that.

We chatted for a bit as we walked, the conversation mostly prompted by Ana and carried on by Shizuka, but after a while Shizuka got bored and wanted to go a little further, so with a reminder that she had to wait by the crossings and not go too far, I let her joyfully skip ahead, seeing something about the scenery around her that I didn't, something that made it seem exciting and playful as she almost danced around.

"I wonder what she's seeing." I mused to Ana.

"I wonder this, too." Ana agreed. "But then I watch and I get so caught up in the watching I forget to wonder. Childhood's a special time, don't ya think?"

"Yeah…."

 _It was, in a way, wasn't it?_ Not perfect, there was no such thing really. But I had enjoyed my childhood, it had definitely been a happy time, almost idyllic until Mum had ended up in hospital. I had so many memories of my childhood and the happy moments it had been filled with, but yet I found myself wondering if I had ever skipped through life the way Shizuka was doing now. Somehow, it didn't feel like it.

 _It'll be different for Shizuka though. I'll do everything in my power to ensure that._

"Ah, sorry." I turned to see Ana stare at me, sweet face stricken. "Was that the wrong thing to say?"

"No, no, it's fine, it's fine, I was just thinking…"

"Well, okay, if you are sure."

"But I'm wondering if it's a good idea to take her with me." I blurted out, suddenly.

"Take her….with you?"

"I'm meeting up with the others in August, we're having a reunion. You know, Wakana-Chan and everybody."

"Ahhh." Ana nodded sagely. "Wakana-Chan seemed a nice girl, the last time I saw her. And that other boy, the one who came with her back then…Akira-kun, was it? They seem good people. I'm glad that Kou-Chan was friends with them."

"Yeah…"

 _Friends…huh? I suppose so. Everyone in that class accepted him in a way others hadn't done before, up until that moment, I know that for sure._

"Ah, and you, of course, Chie-Chan. I'm glad ya keeping in touch with them and all-it's nice." Ana added. "Is it that you want Shizu-Chan to meet them?"

"Well, yeah, I suppose. I would like that. But I'm not sure…."

"How long are you all going to be together for?"

"Two weeks. We might extend it to a few days beyond that, but no more than three weeks at the most, and definitely two weeks minimum."

"If you wanted to go alone, you know I'd be more than happy to look after her for that amount of time." Ana pointed out.

"Yeah." At that point, we approached a crossing, and I called out to Shizuka. She stopped and waited for us to catch up, and then when the green man came up, she grabbed onto our hands for as long as it took to cross, before taking off again.

"Dad offered the same, so it's not as if you'd need to look after her alone."

"Oh, no, it's never any trouble." Ana reassured, smiling. "I love having Shizu-Chan around, we have a lot of fun together."

I chuckled at that.

"Thanks, Ana-san. " I hesitated. I was lucky. Not only had Dad also been quick to reassure me that he'd be fine with looking after Shizuka for the duration, but Misa had floated the idea of having her over to stay at her own place, and Grandma had offered something similar when I'd mentioned the issue to her over the phone. It was not as if I was bereft of support networks if I did want to go alone. Or even generally. I doubted I would be in a place to be thinking these things if it wasn't for Dad and Misa and Ana, and Grandma as well. But it wasn't the support networks that had me hesitating.

I'd talked about this with Doctor Yamamoto too, during an appointment, and she'd pointed out that I was Shizuka's mother, and I could decide what was best for her-and that I was more than capable. That it would not make me a bad mother to have her looked after by a family member while I went. And though admittedly, those worries had also been in my mind, it wasn't those that were making me hesitate, either.

"Perhaps it's biased of me, but I'd say take her with ya." Ana said eventually, after a long pause in which I had remained silent. I regarded her curiously.

"Biased?"

"I like the idea of Shizu-Chan getting showered with attention by other people who knew Kou-Chan." She admitted after a moment.

 _Ah, there it is._ The source of my hesitation. I wanted that too-I wanted her to meet them, and I wanted them to meet her, not just so she could know them as my friends, but so they could tell her things they remembered about Koutarou, the things that I couldn't tell her about him, the things that I did not always have the words for. She'd had so many questions lately, and it would be nice to provide answers.

And yet….so many of the things that I could not say and did not have the words for were the same things I didn't want her to find out yet, not while she was young enough to see and hear things that we were all too old to experience but that made her float. _That would be cruel._ And when thinking of it like that, suddenly it did not seem so nice.

"But maybe ask her." Ana concluded, distracting me from this train of thought.

" _Ask_ her?" I repeated, feeling that had come out from left-field. "You mean, literally?"

"Yes. It is….not so strange, is it? After all-she chose the flowers for you today, didn't she?"

"That's not….." I looked at the bag Ana was carrying, at the different shades of purple poking out, and noticed that there were hydrangeas amongst the different flowers of the bouquet. Purple hydrangeas, just like the first flowers I had ever chosen for Mum's garden. _Oh. Maybe it is…._

I looked ahead of me. We were approaching the gate to the cemetery, and Shizuka had slowed down, looking up at it. Eventually, right at the gate, she came to a stop and turned around to look for us.

"Mummy! Grandma Ana!" she waved at us. Ana called back and beamed, and I lifted a hand to wave back as we caught up to her. _Maybe it is the same thing._

"Yeah, perhaps I _will_ ask her then." I told Ana.

 **…**

"Shizuka," I began. "Can I ask you something?"

Shizuka didn't answer straight away as she chewed on her mouthful of rice and curry.

"What is it, Mummy?"

"What do you…?" I hesitated and looked at Dad, who nodded.

"What do you think about going on holiday with me?" I asked, using the wording I had decided upon later, while walking back from the cemetery visit.

"But Mummy, I still have school. And you say that school is _important_." Shizuka pointed out. Dad chuckled at that, and I smiled encouragingly.

"Not now, but when you break up from school for the summer holidays." I explained. "So you wouldn't miss any school."

"Ohhhh." Shizuka considered this. "Are we going far, far away?"

"No, not very far. To one of my friends' houses. I haven't seen this friend for a long time, and there are some of our other friends too, so we're all meeting up to see each other again for a while."

Shizuka blinked at that as she scooped up another mouthful.

"Oh, I get it now, Mummy! You're going to go on a really long sleepover."

"Yes, I suppose I am." _Huh, I hadn't thought of it like that._ "And I'm wondering if you'd like to come with me, on this sleepover."

Shizuka looked baffled.

"But Mummy, we're not friends." When I stared, she quickly rushed to clarify. "Don't look sad about that, Mummy. I love you lots and lots, but as a _Mummy_! Not as a _friend_!"

Trying hard not to burst out laughing when she was being deadly serious about this, I somehow managed to recover myself enough to speak.

"Why is that a problem, Shizuka?"

"Because usually you go to sleep over with people you're friends with. " Shizuka said this as if this was obvious, before shovelling in another spoonful of food.

"Well, yes, that's right." I said, measuring my words carefully now that I had reached the difficult part. "But…because they're my friends, and some of them haven't met you yet, and would like to meet you, I thought it would be nice if they could."

"…They know about me?"

"Yup. I've told them all about you." _There's no way they couldn't know._ "And you remember Wakana-Chan, don't you?"

"Wakana-san? One of the friends is Wakana-san?" Shizuka's eyes widened suddenly.

"Yup." I nodded.

"Can I play with Wakana-san, if I come? I haven't seen her for ages!" Shizuka bounced around in her seat a little at the thought.

"Sure you can. In fact, I'm sure my other friends will be pleased to play with you as well, once they meet you."

"Oooooh." Again, Shizuka took a moment to consider this. "Okay then!"

"Okay?" I asked carefully. Shizuka beamed at me excitedly.

"I want to come with you! Well, if that's _really_ okay, anyway."

"Yes, it's definitely okay."

"Yay!"

 _Well, okay, that was easier than I could have hoped._ I looked over at Dad, who nodded and smiled to back me up. There were still the finer details to iron out in relation to having her with me during this reunion, and some of my concern still remained, but now that the decision had been made, somehow I felt like I could rest easier for it. And that just made me even more excited for the day to come.

 **…**

 _Masashi_

I quickly checked the bus to make sure nobody had fallen asleep on the journey-something which happened with more frequently than I thought possible-then got back into the driver's seat and drove it the very short distance from the final stop to the depot and carefully parked it in one of the garages before getting out. _Ah, I need sleep._

"Hey, Kita, you're on your way out?"

"Huh?" I turned to see a fellow bus-driver. "Yeah. I am."

"Cool, okay. You were on since five, weren't you?" he asked. "God, that sucks."

"Yeah, but it's still better than being on one of the night routes, right?" I shrugged.

"True, true."

"So anyway, when are you on, Kanai-tan?"

"Uhh…about 20 minutes. I'm taking over from Kamiya's route." He said after a moment to check his watch.

"Ahh, I see." I nodded absently as I grabbed my bag and signed myself out. Then, just as I was about to leave, I thought of something.

"Hey, you have a kid, don't you? A little girl?"

"Yes, that's right-Masami." Kanai raised an eyebrow at me. "Why?"

"Do you have any idea what six year old girls like these days?" I asked, regretting it almost as soon as I did. _Why are you doing this to yourself, Masashi?_

"…a niece's birthday, or something?" Kanai asked after a moment. I shook my head.

"No, my friend's little girl. I'm going up to see them in the summer, and I thought it'd be nice to get something for the kid, you know."

"Well…" Kanai thought about this. "How well do you know the girl? Do you know anything about what she's interested in?"

Instantly, I thought to a message on the chat group from yesterday evening that Chieko had sent, a picture of a ruffled looking kitten that was clearly being held by Shizuka with the caption _'I swear, it's like she has some inbuilt stray-cat radar'_ along with it. I had, for a moment, considered asking Chieko if I could have the cat instead-I figured it would be nice to have a pet to come home through. But I hadn't bothered, what with my apartment being as poky as it is. Fine for me, but possibly not so great for sharing with a cat. Of course, as with every time this happened, Chieko had plans to get the cat to a shelter nearer to her, so it was no big deal, me deciding that. But still, it had me thinking that it would be nice to have a pet…

… _And, you're getting off track! Focus, Masashi, you moron!_

"Animals. According to her mother, she's always bring stray cats home and the like. She's always having to make trips to the animal shelter, because they're not in a position to have pets right now."

"Ah. Ahhhh." Kanai nodded and slanted a sideways glance at me, which had me glare at him. Unfortunately, he was undeterred and just kept eyeing me in that weird way as he gave me some suggestions.

"Well, in that case, something animal themed? A soft toy, or a craft set of some kind? In fact, any sort of activity set is a good call. Though, if you can't find anything suitable that's animal themed, as long as it's pretty, pink and child-friendly, it's probably fine. My girl loves anything pink, and my experience says most girls do, but don't know if your 'friend's' kid is the same, necessarily."

"Why are you saying it like that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. Kanai just grinned. _Goddamit, he's teasing me._

"Ah, nothing, nothing. Good luck, Kita. See you later."

"Yeah, I'd best get going. Later."

Quickly, I walked away, trying to outrun my embarrassment (or out speed-walk it, anyway), and it was only when I was down the road from the depot that I slowed. _Argh, am I that obvious?_ I'd hoped I wasn't, but apparently not. Oh well, as long as the others didn't detect anything unusual when we met up in August. That would just be all sorts of embarrassing.

 _But anyway, what to do now?_ I was definitely tired, but I didn't think I was tired enough that a nap would do anything. And I could always take an early night-I only had to be in by eight the next day, and I wasn't going over to Mum's or Kazuki's for dinner or anything, so I could do whatever the hell I wanted. Which was wonderful until you didn't actually know what you wanted to do. _Oh, this is fun._

Passing by The Plug-top Octopus, I paused and contemplated the establishment. It didn't look like much, and there had never been a stupider name for a pub in the history of the universe as far as I was concerned, but I liked the place well enough. Their prices were good, and so were their drinks. But it felt a bit sad to me, to go drink on my own in the middle of the afternoon- _but you are sad, in a way still, even after all these years-_ so I ditched that idea and continued walking.

 _Pink, animal themed. Hmmm…._ Kanai's suggestions admittedly made sense, so for a moment I considered going to the shopping centre and seeing if there was anything I could buy for Shizuka, but instead, almost without realising, I found myself going to the train station instead, treading a familiar pattern to the platform I needed. After a few moments, the train arrived, and I jumped on and waited the 10 minutes it took to get to the next stop before getting off and heading straight to the graveyard where Hibiki was buried.

 _Huh, I probably should have brought flowers or something._ It was a bit late now, but I suspected it didn't matter. Where Hibiki was concerned, what mattered was the people who came to visit. And as I approached the Kazama family grave, I saw there were plenty of colourful blooms there anyway.

"Good afternoon there." I aimed the greeting at her parents' grave, right next to hers. "Just come to say 'hey' to Hibiki, I hope you don't mind…." Finally stopping and looking down at the grave, I trailed off.

 _The car pulled up outside Hope's Peak and stopped, and I got out. Mum got out too, and went around to open the boot and take my suitcase and my holdall out._

" _There you go, Masashi." She said, handing me the holdall as I grabbed at my suitcase. I balanced the bag on top so it would be easier to drag around, and then looked at her. She smiled._

" _I'm proud of you, Masashi. Good luck with your first day."_

 _There were a zillion thoughts zipping around in my mind, but I just shrugged casually._

" _Thanks, Mum."_

" _Well, I'd best be off to work now. Try not to get into trouble now, okay?"_

" _Muuuum." I rolled my eyes as Mum got back into the car, but remained waiting on the pavement as I watched her drive away. Then, I turned to look at the building._

" _Right then….." I unzipped the holdall to find the letter that had the instructions on what do once arrived, and unfolded it to take a look, when I heard the sound of a voice chattering at a dime a dozen, a low but clearly feminine voice that gradually got closer to me._

" _Oh! Yo, are you a newbie too?"_

 _I looked over at that, and too my surprise saw two identical figures looking at me in curiosity. Or rather, two almost identical features. They pretty much had the same face, but the one who had spoken was clearly a girl, who had long hair down to her waist, black except for the one dyed-pink portion of her fringe on the left side of her face, and was wearing a red hoodie, tan shorts and a black t-shirt with a dog on the front._

" _By 'newbie' you mean…."_

" _You were invited into Hope's Peak this year, to form Class 78." The person spoke up, face almost expressionless. I frowned at them, puzzled._ _I felt sure they were a boy, given their clothes and shorter hair, but given his strong resemblance to the girl, and a similar dyed-pink strand of their fringe on the right side of their face, it was hard to be entirely sure…_

" _Huh, yeah, I am…..to state the completely bleeding obvious, I guess the two of you are, as well?"_

" _Yup!" The girl nodded vigorously. "I'm Hibiki Kazama. The Voice Actor. Nice to meet you!"_

" _Voice actor, huh? What, like anime and that shit?"_

" _Yup!" Hibiki said, gleefully. "Want me to demonstrate?"_

" _Uh…..no thanks. Maybe later."_

" _Oh, okay! Anyway, Rika-Chin, introduce yourself!"_

" _Hibiki,_ please _." The other person sighed in exasperation, before turning to me._

" _I'm Akira, Student Council President." He said, in a monotone voice, before holding out his hand for me to shake. "And you are?"_

Well, I could have guessed that much from the armband _, I thought but didn't say as I returned the shake. On the bright side, it now seemed reasonable to guess that Akira was a boy, and that he was related to Hibiki in some way (most likely twins), so that's what I'd go with for now._

" _The name's Masashi Kita. My friends call me Masa-well some of them do. It sounds weird, I know. I've been told about fuck 50000 times already."_

" _No, that's not weird." He said, almost automatically._

" _So then, Mohawk! What's your talent?!" Hibiki demanded. I raised an eyebrow._

" _Seriously? You're calling me by my goddamn fricking hairstyle? I even offered a nickname you could use! But in any case, I'm the SHSL Soccer Player."_

" _Ohhh, cool!" Hibiki grinned. "Say, you guys, how about we go and look for some of our other new classmates?! "_

" _Yeah, sure, may as well" I shrugged." We're stuck with them for the next three years anyway."_

I sighed, and fidgeted, not knowing what to say. It sometimes felt like I had told them everything already. There were only so many ways one could tell another that they hadn't deserved what had happened to them.

I glanced at her parent's grave again momentarily, and something tugged at me. We had something in common here, Akira and I. We'd both been part of families of five when we'd entered Hope's Peak. Now his family only had two, whereas mine only had three. But still, I believed I was better off. As long as Hikari was still out there somewhere, the possibility she was alive remained. My mother and Kazuki were still living nearby to me. And I certainly had not lost a family member in that killing game. Compared to Akira, I _definitely_ had it easier. I knew this, I believed this, and I was grateful.

 _But god, this fucking sucks, I swear._

"Maybe I should drop in on your brother-he's probably in work now, and I know my brother did so last week. But you know, it'd be kind of strange to say to a receptionist 'oh, we were trapped in a death game together', whereas Nii-san can say 'oh, we worked together once', so yeah…..still, no big, I guess. But anyway, I wonder, what would you be doing if you'd survived with us? Still voice acting? I'd like to think so-there's enough of us who haven't been able to continue with what we were good at before, thanks to that goddamn bitch Enoshima-excuse my language, you know me..."

I prattled on in that vein for a while, then tired of it, and drove to a halt, before just sighing and shrugging at the gravestone.

"Well then…I'll drop by some other time, Hibiki-tan. See you later, okay?"

I walked away quickly, and went back to the train station. But instead of going back home, I went two stops further, and got off at the station closest to Kanekatsu's grave, and made my way over there.

" _Okay, so what the actual fuck is fucking going on?" I demanded, looking around. "Have we all seriously freaking just woken up in random spots all around the goddamn school and been told to meet up in here for an entrance ceremony….even though we started here two weeks ago?What the hell?"_

" _Yeah, no, none of this makes sense. But let's try not to get so worked up, okay?" Kimihiro suggested._

" _Perhaps if we explored a little more we might find a plausible explanation?" Wakana wondered._

" _Well, it's nearly 8am, according to that clog-clock there." Chieko pointed. "Maybe whoever wrote these notes will turn up soon."_

" _They'd_ better _." Koutarou muttered. A few others chimed in with agreement, me included._

" _It would be to their benefit to do so." Kanekatsu spoke up. "After all, from the metal window plates alone, it's clear a lot of effort has been put into this, so if they want something from us, they'd have to explain it."_

" _That's a good point." Daisuke agreed, nodding. "We just have to hope that whatever it is, we'll be able to leave soon and go back to classes as normal. This has to be a mistake."_

" _Oh, it's no mistake! Well, not to whoever did this anyway. I'm sure this is precisely what they want!" Erica disagreed. We all stared at her, aghast._

" _Is there something you wish to tell us, Cain-san?" Kanekatsu eventually asked. Erika shook her head vigorously, and fiddled with the smiley-face pin on her blazer, before evenly making eye contact with Kanekatsu, hazel meeting chocolate head-on, with no sense of backing down._

Ohhh boy _. I let out a breath. Over the past few days, we'd all noticed that these two liked to debate morals and values a lot, even with their very different talents, so we watched them, breath bated. Yashiro, standing next to Kanekatsu, clutched at her cardigan as she watched, eyes wide in slightly shocked fascination._

" _No, no, I'm as clueless as you guys! But, history dictates that in events like this, there are no happy endings."_

" _Why the fuck do you sound so pleased about that?!" I spluttered._

" _You have come across a situation specifically like this before, in the past?" Kanekatsu inquired, eyebrow raised._ Ah, of course I got ignored. _I shrugged exaggeratedly and gave up._

" _Well….not like this, as such." Erica replied with a sunny smile. "But I know what the past has to say about things_ generally _like this. And as I said, they really don't end well! But with that being said, you're welcome to prove me wrong, got it?"_

" _Understood." Kanekatsu sighed. "Then, in that case, I will do my utmost to try and do that with the tools I have at my disposal."_

" _And I will eagerly await it, Iwafusa-san!"_

Kanekatsu's grave was not nearly as crowded over as Hibiki's had been, but again, there were some flowers, and I wondered who had come by. I knew she still had parents surviving, but that she had been an only child. I remember learning that she'd had a boyfriend, too, but I had no idea how serious that had been. _Ahh, it doesn't matter, does it? At least I come here. And why the hell am I suddenly so hung up about flowers?_

"Gah, I suppose you're not too fussed about them either anyway, right?" I asked. "But I'll remember to bring some next time, okay? It's all I can do, really. You really helped us a lot with stuff, while you were still alive."

I thought of that, the way she had been one of the ones to effortlessly take a leading role, getting right close to the bodies of our fallen classmates each time, to collect evidence to find which one of our other classmates had killed them, to get justice for the victims, right up until she had fallen, herself. We'd been quite lost when she had become a victim, it had been quite hard to wrap our heads around that.

" _Why Iwafusa-Chan, you ask? Well, she was the most fitting, wasn't she? "_

 _From the way she said it, it was as if Tyson had asked her for a favour on some trivial errand, as opposed to confronting her over murder. I wanted to shake some sense into her, but like everyone else, all I could do was watch._

" _Think about it. It's almost perfect, isn't it, that she would become a sacrificial lamb, in the end."_

The words rung in my mind, and I rubbed my head. I thought of the state Kanekatsu's body had been found with, the way we hadn't even noticed her at first, because of everything else that had happened around her death. I mean, we'd found her soon enough and all. But still, god….that was definitely one of the more brutal trials out of all of them. And they'd _all_ been awful.

I closed my eyes and remembered, for a moment. Not that was much of a task-I didn't see myself forgetting, any time soon. But for a moment, I allowed myself to just think of it, to let the horror and sadness wash over me for a while. A breeze brushed my face, and I stood there for a moment longer before opening my eyes again. Sticking my hands in my pocket, I glanced around me, at the different gravestones, feeling a little calmer.

"Next time, Iwafusa-tan, I'll come back with the others, too. All of us. Okay?"

I nodded once to myself, as if to assert that, and then I turned away and walked back out, thinking of the different things I needed to do before meeting my fellow Survivors again.

* * *

 **Characters introduced this chapter:**

 **Survivors**

 **Akira Kazama, former SHSL Student Council President (belongs to: Illusionary Phantom)  
Masashi Kita, former SHSL Soccer Player (belongs to: ****Sp1r1t)**

 **Dead**

 **Hibiki Kazama, former SHSL Voice Actor (belongs to: Illusionary Phantom)  
Kanekatsu Iwafusa , former SHSL Forensic Scientist (belongs to: wiseowl99)  
Erica Cain, former SHSL Historian (belongs to: tobi-is-an-artist-too)  
**


	5. Have Pride

**So here I am with a chapter five days before the SYOC deadline. I've got all my survivors now, and so all I'm in need of are two more victims. There's a little more info on my profile, but yeah, PM me if you have questions.**

 **But in any case, on with the chapter! I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

 _Chieko_

"Oh, this is a nice surprise!" Andou looked up from where she was arranging a tray of cupcakes in one of the counter-top display cases and beamed at us. "Give me a moment."

"Yeah, sure." I agreed. Next to me, Shizuka looked around at the sweets, no doubt already mentally listing which ones she'd like to eat if she got the chance to get some herself. I ruffled her hair absently while I waited for Andou to finish.

"It's good to see you two." She exclaimed when she did come over to us. "How are you, Chieko-Chan? How's the studying and everything?"

"Eh, okay I guess. Just the usual, you know." I shrugged. Andou nodded thoughtfully at that, giving me a meaningful look before turning to Shizuka and crouching down slightly.

"And how are you, Shizuka-Chan?"

"I'm okay!" Shizuka replied. She hesitated for a moment, and put a hand to her mouth, as if considering something.

"Is…is Shun here today?" she asked eventually, cheeks going slightly pink. Andou grinned at me before answering.

"Well, he is, but-"

Before she could complete her sentence, one of the two doors at the back swung open, and footsteps clattered.

"Mum! I'm going now!" Shunsuke came around the corner of the till, a bright green backpack hanging casually off of one shoulder, the tops of what appeared to be a pair of roller-skates poking out, before he stopped abruptly and blinked at us.

"Shun!" Shizuka exclaimed, stepping away from me. Shun smiled back at her.

"Hey, Shizu. Hey, Akamine-san."

"Hello, Shunsuke-kun." I greeted.

"Let's play together?" Shizuka asked Shunsuke, who pulled a face and shook his head.

"Sorry, Shizu, I'm about to go play with the guys from school but if you're here later…." Shunsuke looked over at Andou. "Mum, are they staying for lunch or something this time or are they just coming for the shop?"

"Oh, I didn't actually ask. Chieko-Chan?"

"Just shopping, this time." I apologised. "Perhaps Shunsuke-kun'll play with you another time, Shizuka."

"Mhmmm…." Shizuka visibly drooped.

"Yeah, sure." Shunsuke shrugged. "Anyway, I should go now."

"Ah, wait, Shun-Chan." Andou went back around the counter, and then disappeared for a few moments before coming back around with a small tin in her hand, which she gave to Shunsuke.

"Here, share this with your friends."

"Cool, thanks Mum!" Shunsuke grabbed ahold of the tin, then readjusted his backpack.

"Okay, I'm definitely off now. See you later Akamine-san, Shizu."

With that, he clattered his way out of the front entrance, as noisily as he'd arrived. I shook my head in amusement, and then looked down at Shizuka, who had come back to cling at my jeans, looking disheartened.

"Mummy, I wanted to play with Shun." She said plaintively.

"I know." I ruffled her hair again.

"Do you know what, Shizuka-Chan?" Andou knelt down to Shizuka's height, and smiled engagingly. "I have some new recipes I'm trying out, and I'd really like it if you'd come and taste them, and tell me what you think."

Shizuka blinked warily as she turned away from me to regard Andou.

"Or there are some cakes that you could decorate. What do you think of that, hmm?"

"I….." Shizuka bit her lip. "Can I do _both_ things?"

"Sure you can!"

"Mmm…I really want to, but if I did then I can't help Mummy chose the presents, can I?"

"Presents?" Andou tipped her head, and glanced up at me questioningly.

"We're going to meet up with the others next week." I explained. "So we're buying something to take to them."

"Ah, I see. Just to be sure, you're referring to…." Andou checked carefully, making sure not to mention the name Hope's Peak while Shizuka was still in earshot. I nodded in confirmation.

"I see." Andou gave me a meaningful look, and then thought for a moment.

"Well, how about this? If you decorate some cakes for me while I help your Mummy look for some good presents, then you can take some of those cakes home and give those, too."

Shizuka said nothing at that, but her face lit up in approval and she nodded vigorously, making the hair bobbles I'd tied into her hair shake merrily. Pleased, Andou got up.

"You're fine with that, right, Chieko-Chan. I'll set her up in the usual place in the kitchen, and Yoi-Chan's doing admin-y stuff in the office, so he can check in on her too."

"Yeah, sure, that's fine. Thank you, Andou-sempai."

Andou shook her head at that.

"Oh, it's no problem, really. Let's go, Shizuka-Chan."

Happily, Shizuka grabbed at Andou's offered hand, and I watched them go back into the kitchen, and I couldn't help but smile. I suppose I shouldn't have expected any less, not really.

 _I looked at the sheet of paper that Andou had just given to me. It was a sheet of light pink letter paper, patterned with flowers and carrying the faintest smell of sugar-in other words, something that definitely belonged to Andou. On the other hand, the handwriting that had been used to write the phone numbers and email addresses on it was almost square and precise, in plain black ink._

" _We'd include a physical address too, but we're probably going to be moving at some point, so that'd be a bit pointless, right?" Andou apologised. "But either way, we're probably not going to be here when you guys all go home, so we thought we'd drop this off for you now, right, Yoi-Chan?"_

" _Yeah." Izayoi said, simply._

 _I looked at both of them, uncomprehending. This was not what I had expected. Very early on after we'd been let out, with all the interviews and examinations and other arrangements being made, Andou had been a constant presence, first as the one who always seemed to end up interviewing me, and then later going out of her way to help me, Izayoi close by, and both in the hospital and here, she'd often come to see me to just chat about things, as though we were friends, and not…well, whatever the relationship between a Future Foundation member and a Hope's Peak survivor was called. Okay, so she'd been friendly with all of us and had made a lot of tasty things for us all too, but she had clearly singled me out as special for some reason._

" _I….I don't understand." I replied, eventually. Because I didn't. I was having enough trouble understanding what I was thinking, how I would get through all of this, without figuring out their intention too._

" _If you need us for anything at all, then you can reach us in these ways."_

 _I blinked, and stared down at the sheet of paper again._

" _I don't understand." I repeated._ Why? Is this real? _Still looking down, I startled when a hand covered the hand of mine that wasn't holding the paper, and I looked up to see Andou leaning forward, looking at me sadly, but still with a small smile._

" _It's okay, because I think I do. To an extent, anyway. It's taking you all you have to not just fall apart, right? You're hurting, and you probably will be forever, it feels like, but you've also got the biggest reason to stay intact, and so you're trying your hardest, right? Trying not to show just how devastated you've become-probably waiting until you're somewhere safe to let it out. It's tiring, right?"_

 _I stared, and put the sheet of paper down on my lap so I could rub my forehead. Perhaps I was finally losing my mind, but it sounded a lot to me that Andou knew full well what she was talking about._ It's almost as if she were describing herself…

" _Yeah…." I managed to say. "I….it's….yeah."_

 _Andou nodded encouragingly at me, even as my words sputtered, but I couldn't say anything more. Sometimes it felt like all my words had disappeared after that one trial, chasing the tail of my belief in Koutarou's innocence. So I sighed, and shook my head._

" _That's okay." She said. "It's fine. I completely get it, and I'm going to do my best to help you too, because of that, okay?"_

 _Again, I just stared, but again, Andou didn't seem put off or discouraged, and continued on_

" _But anyway, there's something else I was thinking of too…"_

 _Unexpectedly, she turned to look at Izayoi, and I followed her gaze with curiosity._ What's going on?

" _Yoi-Chan, you have your phone, don't you?"_

" _That I do. What do you need it for?"_

" _You've got photos of Shun-Chan on there, right?"_

" _Yes, I do. Give me a moment."_

 _Izayoi pulled out his mobile phone from one of the many pockets of his coat, and fiddled with it a moment, before turning it around so that I could see it. Displayed on the screen was a photograph of a little boy aged about three or four, cross-legged on a carpeted floor with a few toy bricks scattered around, smiling widely. He had tousled sandy hair and wide, round blue eyes. Astonished, I couldn't help but gawp._

" _Andou-sempai, Izayoi-sempai, you have….?"_

" _Yes. This is Shunsuke." Izayoi explained. "Our son. He's nearly four years old."_

" _I…I see. He's cute." The child in the photograph_ was _cute. And I could not help but wonder what my child would end up looking like when they reached that age, what they would be like._ Why have I not wondered that until now? _Andou beamed at my comment, as Izayoi put his phone away._

" _Don't you think it would be nice, if Shun-Chan and your little girl could be friends, or something like that?" Andou asked cheerfully._

" _I-I'm sorry?"_

" _Oh, I know you won't get to know for a few months yet, but I have a feeling you're having a little girl. But that's just me assuming things though!"_

" _No, it's okay…." And there it was, something else I had not thought of or wondered about._ A little girl. Who may just have a friend already. _The idea of that was, for some reason, something that I really liked the sound of already._

" _I….do you really mean it? I…all of it?"_

" _Yes." The answer came quickly. I startled, surprised at the intensity in Andou's voice. She pointed at the piece of paper in my lap._

" _Seriously, if you need anything at all, even after you're back at home and all, don't hesitate to get into contact. Okay, Chieko-Chan?"_

I turned as Andou came back out of the kitchen, and shelved the recollection away in my mind.

"Right then, Shizuka-Chan's happily decorating cupcakes, so let's get started. As always, of course you need to look at the macarons first." Andou said instantly, heading straight to one of the displays.

"Andou-sempai, you don't need to…..what about the till?"

"Ah, it's fine, really. It's quiet right now, and I can still keep an eye on the till while with you. And in any case, I suspect there's a lot we've got to chat about, right?"

I exhaled, thinking of the honest words we'd exchanged over the years, of the way Andou had indeed meant everything she'd said to me that day and acted on it.

"Yeah, I guess we do."

"Nuh-uh." Andou shook her head firmly. "No guessing about it. Ah, but anyway, take a look at these."

Abruptly, she picked up a package of macarons from the selection and handed it to me, and just like that we were debating and discussing sweet treats as we circuited the shop, the flow only interrupted when she had to dash back to serve customers. And of course, we talked. I haltingly explained about the reunion, and the details of it, and some of the worries I had been having, she commiserated and offered words of comfort, and some advice, too. And as always, it somehow helped a little.

 _Not,_ I mused, _that it necessarily makes things easier._ The common ground between us that she'd used to try and reach out to me back then didn't magically make things go away. In truth, I didn't think _anything_ would. But it was little things like this that made all the difference, and I was always grateful for all of it.

Eventually, I decided on some small gift boxes of assorted sweets and chocolates, each box a different bright colour-it was of course not really going to make the largest difference anyway, but I knew Shizuka would enjoy getting to decide who should get what colour box-and then I attempted to go to pay for them at the till, where Andou was just finishing serving another customer.

"Ah, Chieko-Chan, don't worry about that! My treat, okay?"

"That's not fair though, and it's no problem, really. Let me pay."

"No, no, no, it's on the house!" Andou insisted. I sighed at that, and shook my head.

"That's really kind of you, Andou-sempai, but this is a business, right? You need the money."

"Ah, but it's not as if these are the most expensive item, so it's not a big loss. So seriously, my treat."

"Nuh-uh, really, I'll pay for it." I said. "I'm able to, at this point. I can pay like any other customer who comes here to buy something to give as a gift."

At that, I blinked, not having expected the words to have come out quite so strongly. Andou had been about to say something, but instead she pursed her lips and considered this.

"Well…ah, I know! Should have thought of this before-The friends and family discount. I'll give you that. What do you think of that, then? I've given it to Seiko-Chan too." Andou paused at that. "Well, _theoretically_ I've given it to her. But still, you know what I mean."

"Yeah." My shoulders relaxed, and I couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, that works."

"Perfect!"

Dispute over, we chatted about lighter topics while we finished the transaction. Once I had the boxes in a bag, Andou took a look around.

"Right then, how about I take you back to the kitchen?"

"Yeah, sure."

Andou smiled, then took a moment to search behind the counter before finding a sign reading 'Back in a minute! :)' printed on it in a bright and cheerful font and attaching it to the till so that people could see it, before then leading me to the kitchen, stopping in the doorway.

Shizuka was standing by one of the kitchen worktops, standing on a bright blue stool. Holding a cupcake topped with smooth pink icing, she was intently concentrating on sticking what I guessed were edible pearls onto the middle of the cake in what was sort of a pattern but not quite one yet. There were other packets and bottles of different types of decorations on the worktop, as well as an assortment of cakes-some decorated, others not.

Izayoi was also in the kitchen, standing on the other side near the fridge, holding a cup of tea and calmly keeping an eye on her as he drank it. Noticing us, he simply nodded once. A few moments later, Shizuka looked up and noticed us too.

"Mummy!" she waved eagerly with the hand that was holding the cupcake. "Look at all the cakes! I'm making them all pretty."

I grinned, and then Andou tapped my shoulder. I turned to look at her questioningly.

"See? How well you're doing?" she asked, simply. I stared at her for a moment, before she winked at me, and returned to the front of the store. _Doing….well?_ It took me a moment to process the words, but as I went over to Shizuka, I thought that she was probably right.

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

"There's your change and receipt, have a nice evening now!" I called out to the customer as she left. At a table from the other side, where she was stacking plates on a tray, Orihime looked over and grinned at me before she picked up the tray and came back over.

"Well?" she asked me.

"Well what?" I asked, knowing full well what she meant. Orihime grinned and shook her head at me.

"Onee-Chan, Onee-Chan, really? You didn't ask for her number at all?"

"She was wearing a we _dding ring_." I retorted, raising an eyebrow at Orihime, who pulled a face at me. To be fair, the customer had been quite attractive. But she was accounted for, so there was little I could do about that. _Ah, maybe I'll be luckier next time._

"Oh well," she shrugged at me, before continuing on into the kitchen. I sighed and then turned back to watch what was going on in the café. Since it was so close to closing, there were only a few people left-a couple and some people who had come in alone-finishing up their beverages or snacks. Gradually, they did eventually finish, and started to drift out while Eriko and Natsumi, the two part time waitresses who had been working with us today, collected the plates left behind by these last set of customers, and took them into the kitchen to help Orihime.

"Have a good night, Nanto-san!" one of the regulars called out as he left.

"You too!" I called out. Once he was gone, I looked around and made sure that there was nobody else coming, then looked at the time. _Meh, it's only three minutes._ I went over to the door, and made sure to flip the sign so that it would read 'CLOSED' from the outside, then locked it, double checking to make sure it was secure. Once that had been done, I went around the café, to make sure nothing had been left behind by our customers,-or, for that matter, that no _body_ had been left behind by our customers, before I went back to the kitchen to grab a broomstick, so that I could clean out in the café area. In the kitchen, I could hear Orihime, Eriko and Natsumi chatting, flitting from topic to topic with ease, and I grinned at it, occasionally calling out a few replies as I worked.

Once we had finished, Eriko and Natsumi collected their things, and then I let them out, waving goodbye to them until they had disappeared around the corner, before locking the door again, and then wiping my brow.

"Phew. That was a long day." I switched off the lights and pulled a face. "Not too bad though, considering."

"No, not too bad at all. Whatcha wanna eat, Onee-Chan?" Orihime asked breezily as we went upstairs to our living area. I shrugged.

"Meh, I don't know. You decide."

"Cool!" Orihime suddenly beamed, and I sweat-dropped at that, wondering what I had just let myself in for. _Meh._ Again, I shrugged to myself and went to my bedroom while Orihime headed straight to the kitchen. I looked around, and wondered what I was doing, before I wandered over to my bedside table and picked up the photo frame, regarding the faces of my former classmates. Sometimes it was hard to believe that over half of them were no longer in the world. Yet on the other hand, I knew all too well how death could sneak up on people suddenly, when it was least expected and least deserved. I'd come to understand it, too. _Still, I wished I remembered these moments with them. It's not fair that they're all gone, and we cannot even properly remember them._

I put the photo down, and then went over to my cupboard and opened it, crouching down and rummaging through before I pulled out the purple box buried right in the corner. In here were all of my personal possessions that the Future Foundation had managed to salvage from the wreckage of the school. It had been delivered in a package some months after I'd got home, and I'd spent an entire evening looking through them all and desperately trying to spark some memory, before I'd shoved it all in this box Mum had given me and put it away, to only rarely be looked at, in fleeting glances.

And yet, here I was now, after one particular set of possessions-my old observational journals. I'd gone through a lot of those while there, apparently, each page crammed from top to bottom with notes and diagrams about what I was seeing through my telescope each night, as well as detailed logs from the Astronomy Club I'd apparently started (a _club_ , that _I_ had started, if it wasn't for the hard facts, I never would have believed that I had done that) detailing who had come, what we had done and any new observations made in that setting. In truth, the contents didn't look too much different from the journals I'd kept before getting my invitation to Hope's Peak.

Except for one thing.

Every so often in the Hope's Peak set of journals, I had broken away from my usual pattern of writing to talk about Rei, to mention something about her. References to her having accompanied me on some star-gazing expeditions, a mention of something funny she had said or something about her that had just made me squeal with joy on the inside at how lovely she was. There was a page in which I had just written her name and surrounded it with doodles of love hearts and planets. And then the final mention of her, in an entry dated just after the school festival our schools shared, where apparently I had not even been able to take solace in the sky as I had wondered why she had left me-an entire line at the bottom of the page crammed with 'why?' written multiple times.

And yet all I really knew about her was that she was my age, and that she had attended Hope Valley High, that she had been classmates with Kiku Inoue-in one of the journals I had mused at the possibility of naming a star for this dead girl I'd never met, as a way of comforting Rei (but in the end, I had not done this). I knew that according to one slightly blurry photo I had tucked in between the pages of one journal, she was dark haired and dark eyes and somewhat intense looking in a way I found incredibly cute even now. I knew that I'd probably met her some point after the two weeks of Hope's Peak that I still remembered, that I had been smitten with her, that I had called her a 'Rei of sunshine' because I thought English puns were funny, and that for reasons that I had not comprehended before everything else had happened, she had broken up with me, without any warning. All of that though, I had learnt from the journals. Some of the facts, such as the references I'd made to Kiku Inoue, The Wishing Tree and other events, I'd gleaned from the news, or from what we'd learnt from the Future Foundation while we'd still been recuperating.

None of what I knew about Rei came from my memory. In fact, if it hadn't been for these things, I may not have known that there had once _been_ a Rei in my life.

And that was so weird to me.

I hadn't thought about it much before-after all, I had just been trying to move on and live, and in all truth and honesty Café Tanabata completely occupied my life now. And in any case, if we had broken up, then that was that, and like with everything else, I should just move on and learn to deal with it. The right person for me was still clearly out there, after all. But now, sitting here again and combing through these old observational journals of mine, it just did not feel _right_ that I had just pushed it all aside for the past seven years. There was so much I didn't know, because I didn't remember. I didn't even know Rei's _surname_. And surely, if I was going to move on, I should know what had really happened, at least, in order to really move on and do so properly.

 _Should I try to look for her?_ In a few days' time, I wouldn't be too far from Towa anyway, and that would be a good place to start, if I was to find her. It wasn't the reason I was going-of course it wasn't. More than anything, I was treasuring the idea of seeing Chieko, Noriko, Wakana and everyone else again. _But….._ Closing the journal I was reading and placing it on the bed, I glanced over at the wooden telescope on the table. _What would you say to this, Pops? Does this count as letting things consume me?_

Of course, he did not answer, so I tucked the single photo of Rei back into the journal it had been in, gathered all of them together, and put them back in the purple box. Then, I got up and carried the purple box to my half packed suitcase, and with my free hand unzipped it, before placing the box in at the bottom. I rearranged what things I already had in there, and put some of the folded clothes on top of the box, as if to obscure it. Then, I zipped the suitcase up, and left it like that.

"Onee-Chan! Dinner's ready!"

I startled, and rubbed my head. I couldn't overthink it too much. There was no harm in bringing it all along with me, just in case. _Right?_

"Coming, Orihime!" I called out before she could get mad. Then, trying hard not to think about it, I hurried out of my bedroom door.

 **…**

 _Akira_

Putting the hoover away, I stood back and regarded the landing. After coming back from the gym this morning and eating a brief lunch, I'd gone straight to work in cleaning the house up for the next day, when everyone else would arrive. I'd spent the entire afternoon and some of the evening cleaning and sorting everything in anticipation for tomorrow. I'd rearranged the bedrooms a little as well, with new bedcovers and the like in each room, making sure there weren't too many personal effects lying around-where my parents' bedroom, Hibiki's and then Yasu's were concerned, I cleared out most of their possessions years earlier, boxing up most of it and keeping it in the attic, letting Yasu take what things she wanted and needed with her, and donating the rest to charity (because asides from anything that was _literal_ rubbish, I could not bear to see any of it thrown away). But until now, I hadn't completely stripped them clean; there were still traces of the people who had once occupied the rooms before. And I figured that'd be a little weird for everyone-the hallway and downstairs were one thing, bedrooms were another. So I'd taken the opportunity to do that last bit of sorting that I had not done before.

But still, my main aim had been to make the rooms look nice-there were a lot of bedsets we'd never got around to using before everything happened, in simple but pretty-looking colours and patterns, I'd hung up some wall paintings and a few trinkets on the shelves of those three rooms-easy things, nothing major, but enough so that it was personable as opposed to austere. When we'd been recovering in Togami's, the guest bedrooms we'd all had had been made up to at least look welcoming and a little different. Incredibly opulent on a ridiculous level, but still, it was easy to tell the effort had been made for us. Hence, the effort I'd spent the day making, not just with the bedrooms, but with my whole house. I was no housekeeper or anything like that, but I thought I'd done a good job.

 _I wonder, would Yukizome-sensei have been proud of me?_

I turned and made my way into the kitchen, where I opened my fridge and contemplated the contents for a moment. I supposed she would be, given that she'd been a SHSL Housekeeper-this type of thing would have been something she would have taken pride in. And from what little I actually remembered of her, I knew she took pride in us, in the idea of the people we would become. Though I suppose now, it was a case of being proud of the people that we could have become, if none of this had happened. Especially since it was hard to tell now, if Yukizome still had the capacity to feel such things as pride again, to even be aware of the things that she had once taken pride in.

Eventually, I decided to just throw together a simple hamburger, and took out what I needed from the fridge and freezer, and then set about preparing the ingredients and putting it together.

 _We all followed Monobear to the room, and all lined up behind the chain-link barrier while he did his disappearing-and-reappearing act to end up on the other side._

" _Why have you brought us here?" I asked. "We're not dealing with an investigation."_

" _Upupu!" Monobear giggled. "That's the problem, you see! How long has it been since poor Oshiro-kun's storybook demise? A week? A little longer than that? And nobody's killed yet! I'm so disappointed in you!"_

 _We all winced a little at that, remembering the sickly snap of the book as it had crushed Oshiro in the end, the way Monobear had yawned casually as he had done so, the trickle of blood between the pages. Of course, there was no of any of that now._

" _So? If refusing to kill makes us a disappointment then I'm_ glad _to be a disappointment!" Chieko protested after a moment._

" _Yeah!" Hibiki chimed in. "That's right!"_

" _Ooooh, I'm so beary hurt! I'm your principal, I just want to see you give in to the delicious, delicious despair like any of my students." Monobear responded, pretending to swoon in horror._

" _You're a goddamn bear. You're nobody's principal." Koutarou muttered._

" _Also…as I keep fucking saying, I've never heard any fucking principal want their goddamn students to 'despair' before." Masashi scoffed._

" _Swearing asides, I'd agree with those sentiments," Kanekatsu spoke up suddenly. "However, I'd be more concerned with asking what the motive is this time."_

" _Motive?" a few of us asked in surprise._

" _Iwafusa-Chan's right!" Erica proclaimed. "Monobear's clearly hankering after a new killing, and have the past two not been precipitated by a motive of some kind, that he's provided?"_

" _Ahhhh." The realisation dawned on me. That did make a certain amount of sense._ But…

" _But why here? We usually get sent to the gymnasium for that, right?" Hokuto asked._

" _Yes," Kanekatsu agreed. "That is the question. Why here, when the gymnasium would suffice? Are you going to explain yourself, Monobear?"_

" _Upupu, I was wondering when one of you disgustingly hopeful kids would get around to asking me that! Well, since you ask, this is a very, very special motive! Well, sort of. I'm kinda cheating a little and reusing the old ones, but you know, that doesn't matter. Maybe this revamp will work even better than the first, Upupu!"_

" _Reusing….? What do you mean, reusing?" Hibiki turned to me, eyes wide with fear. "Rika-Chin, what does that mean?!"_

" _I'm not sure. "Was all I could say. Literally speaking, I could make a guess. But it was hard to be sure of anything. Around me, the others were also shifting around uncomfortably, exchanging worried looks with those they were closer to._

" _Upupu, use your brains and figure it out! But in any case, because I'm a good principal, I can reassure you all that you'll know soon enough! Plus, you'll be glad of this motive soon enough!"_

" _Glad?!" Masashi squawked._

" _Oh? You won't?" Monobear tilted his head curiously. "I thought you wanted to know though. You were all so curious at the beginning!"_

 _Now we were all stunned. Monobear just jumped up and down in utter excitement, waiting for us to figure it out!_

" _Well…there were a lot of unanswered questions." Daisuke began. "Such as: How did we get here? Why are we in here? Why are the windows and doors all plated up?"_

" _Who knocked us out, who's behind all of this, how did we somehow end up here from walking to class, without remembering any of it?" Kimihiro continued. "Is there a way to escape? Who's controlling Monobear and why?"_

" _Why are we the only ones in the building?" Kanekatsu took over, ignoring Monobear's protests that he was an 'autonomous ursine being'. "Where are our seniors, the teachers, the principal, the janitors, kitchen staff, security?"_

" _Where's_ our _teacher?" I finished up, dragging the words out as if to hold off what was to come. Monobear looked ready to burst with joy, putting his paws to his cheeks in ecstasy. I shivered at that, suddenly dreading what would come._

" _Ah, finally! You hit upon it! And now, your question will be answered and the special motive revealed! Drum roll, please!"_

 _Sure enough, out of nowhere, the sound of drums rang out. Monobear suddenly acquired a top hat and a silver-topped cane, which he pointed in the direction of a spotlight that harshly shone on a set of red stage curtains._

 _And then, the curtains opened._

Realising the burger was close to burning, I quickly turned off the oven, and stood there for a moment, staring at the pan but not really seeing it as I recalled what had happened next. I wondered if those screams would ever, ever, leave my head. I suspected that they would not. I bundled the burger onto a plate, then assembled it in the bread bun with the cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and onions, before adding the small amount of chips I'd also cooked onto the plate next to it. I got the mayonnaise out of the fridge and spooned a small amount on the side of the plate, and squirted some ketchup next to it, before picking up the plate and carrying it to my dining room table.

There, I paused a moment. It was not new to me anymore, eating at this large table all alone. But I no longer wanted to anymore. I stood there, suddenly aware of the silence in the house. Silence, so large and overwhelming, almost as loud as the screams in my head. _How did I not notice it?_ This had been a house for five people, a family, not one lonely young man. _This isn't right._

 _But it won't be, for any longer. Not once everyone comes tomorrow._

"Yes, that's right." I said aloud to myself. This time tomorrow, the house would be filled with eight people, including myself, and a child. Their footsteps and voices would reverberate, push back the silence, fill this house with the sensations that it had once held. And I would not be sitting alone at this table.

 _And you don't need to do so tonight, either,_ I told myself. So instead I turned around and went back to the kitchen, and straight to the back door, which I opened. The air was warm, but not unbearably so, and the sky was clear too, studded with stars that I was sure Hokuto knew all the names for. Shutting the door behind me, I sat down on the step, and let out a breath, before I started to eat.

 _This time tomorrow, the house will no longer be empty._

* * *

 **Characters introduced this chapter**

 **Survivors**

 **Hokuto Nanto, former SHSL Astronomer (Belongs to: dashunterman)**

 **Yeah, just one introduced this time. It's just how the chapter ended up working out, I guess, and there are mentions of other characters and hints of what happened to them, so I suppose that's something. But anyway, we are progressing towards the actual reunion! I hope you're all looking forward to when it happens.**

 **Anyway, in this, the AU version of Ruruka is a good person. Or rather, someone who's been given the chance to become a good person and has taken that chance, and is on the way to becoming a good person. And in this process of trying to become a good/better person, she has befriended Chieko (I sort of imagine Ruruka feeling some sort of kinship with Chieko, as they are both mothers grappling with traumas of their own while trying to live their lives and be good mothers while dealing with all this-Ruruka's own traumas would have been decidedly more domestic, in comparison to what Chieko has been through though, if that makes sense?), and Chieko considers her a friend of sorts too now.  
She's not really going to appear much beyond single scenes like this chapter, and various flashbacks about the time between escaping and being returned to their homes, and possibly in some capacity in the special chapters too so it's probably not a big deal anyway, but that's something I'd thought I mention, especially given how hated the canon version of Ruruka is in most of the fandom. **

**Also, you'll have noticed me mention a 'Hope Valley High' in Hokuto's portion of this chapter. To explain that the best as I can for now, Hope Valley High is essentially the equivalent of what the Reserve Course was in the canon franchise. The literal, actual Reserve Course doesn't exist at all in this AU, so no Twilight Syndrome, no Kamakura project etc. Incidentally, for this AU the actual Kamakura Project _was_ something the Steering Committee were planning, but they were at a much, much earlier planning stage and so little had come from it before the MKG occurred, but I digress. What matters is that in a conceptual sort of way, Hope Valley High is a separate (and typical) high school that serves as the equivalent of the Reserve Course in this fic, and that the school and its students do play an important role in various things that occurred around the MKG. But of course, as with most things that are still unexplained, this is something that will be elaborated upon more in future chapters. **


	6. Scraps of the Past 1

**So, um, before I go on, I just want to correct a misunderstanding that cropped up in some of the reviews on the last chapter: Hokuto is actually a female. Not a guy.  
To be fair, thinking about it now, I do kind of see where the assumption could have come from, particularly as her given name does sound rather masculine, but since it came up more than once I just decided to address that here. Otherwise it could get weird in future chapters, I think. But yeah, Hokuto is definitely female.**

 **So anyway. This chapter is up today A: because procrastination is a thing and B: I'd written it well in advance anyway. Mainly because this is the first of those special chapters I've been going on about in author's notes on some of the previous chapters, and since these are all going to be notably shorter chapters they were easy to write while I was still collecting characters and all that. But in any case, I will explain more about how these special chapters will work (so to speak) at the bottom. So, on with this first 'Scraps of the Past' chapter.**

* * *

"See you later, Mitarai-kun."

"Goodbye."

Ryouta Mitarai remembered to smile at his co-worker as they left the building, and then sighed once they had separated ways, looking up at the almost-dark evening sky as he meandered to the train station.

It was not that Mitarai did not like his work-in fact, he could almost say he loved it. He was in one of the country's top animation studios, on the team for a very popular light novel adaptation that the studio wanted to release in the next season. Even as someone who had graduated from Hope's Peak with the title of SHSL Animator the year before, he was constantly in awe at the talent and the vision of some of his seniors in the studio, and there was just so much to learn. One day, he knew, he would climb up the ranks, and would soon be able to start producing his own anime series, or even a movie. He would be able to be in charge of creating something wonderful, and would be sure to change the world with it.

 _It just seems like a long way to go._

Talent didn't entitle one to everything just falling into one's lap, Mitarai knew. Their energetic assistant homeroom teacher had always been quick to remind them that hard work counted for so much of what success was, and their class representative had been adamant that talent shouldn't be treated as a be all and end all. And given the years he had put into honing his art before his acceptance into the school, he could understand that. But sometimes it was frustrating. It was hard to see how a generic fantasy-adventure harem adaptation could change the world for the better, no matter how much the target market seemed to lap it up.

Still, it was not the average animator who landed a stable job at a top animation studio, nor was it the average animator who ended up on one of the top project teams after barely working there for a year. And he did love the job itself, the actual animating itself, the way it could bring a story to life. Animation was his lifeblood. _So I'll bear it, until I'm in a position to change the world with it,_ he concluded, much as he did every other evening.

Passing by a supermarket, he slowed his walk and considered his evening plans. He was simply planning to stay in and perhaps complete a few more frames of his personal project. Watch something out of his collection, perhaps a Studio Ghibli movie, since it was hard to go wrong with one of those. He wasn't sure if he had anything at home that could be made into a meal. Thanks to his former classmate Hanamura, he knew some basic cooking, but he wasn't really inclined to do anything like that tonight.

 _I'll buy some ready meals for the rest of the week,_ he decided, _then I'll get groceries after work on Friday, so I can cook something on the weekend. Sagishi will scold me if he drops by and finds out before then, but oh well._

Smiling wryly at the thought of his overprotective former classmate-and current friend-he walked into the supermarket and picked up a basket, and then headed to where the ready meals were, and stood, considering their selection. There didn't seem to be anything that particularly jumped out at him, but nor was there anything that made him wrinkle his face in disgust and turn away, and somehow, that made it hard to choose. But after a few moments, he made a tentative decision, and reached out for one-at the same time as an elegantly manicured hand did.

Mitarai blinked, and turned around to look at who had grabbed it, and then just stared.

"Oh, sorry, did you want this one?" the elegant, pink-haired woman said, her perfectly made-up mouth making an 'o' of surprise as she did so. Her eyes were concealed by huge and expensive sunglasses, but Mitarai got the feeling that she wasn't sorry at all. There was also the sense that he should know her, but he couldn't quite place it.

The woman wasn't alone, however. She was accompanied by another, of a similar height and age, but a thinner, leaner build and an almost menacing expression. Her clothes-jeans, a jumper and a jacket-were also significantly less ostentatious than her pink-haired companion. She, too, seemed familiar, but to a lesser extent.

"I…uh….well….."

"Oh, it's okay, you can have it, I don't mind!" the pink-haired woman said chirpily. But then, suddenly, the mood darkened, and so did the woman's expression.

"However," she continued, voice suddenly deeper. "You'll need to fight me for it first."

 _Eh?_

Mitarai's mind went blank as he scrambled for a possible escape route. Should he just give the ready meal to her and pick something else? Or just leave the shop altogether? Or confront her? But as he tried to figure it out, all of a sudden her mood changed again and she laughed loudly, attracting a few stares.

"Junko-Chan…." The plainer woman murmured. The pink-haired one didn't seem to mind.

"Oh, Onee-Chan, what's a few stares, really?" she then turned to Mitarai. "As to you, kid, I was just messing, seriously. Take as much as you want."

"I-I'm not a kid!" Mitarai felt the need to protest. "I've already graduated from high school!"

"Ohhh, is that so? And which high school did you go to?"

"Hope's Peak Academy."

Unfortunately, this did not produce the dazed reaction he was hoping for. Instead, the pink haired woman positively sparkled, and she took off her sunglasses to reveal dazzling blue eyes, and an instantly familiar face-one that was all over magazines and billboards and advertisements of all sorts, impossible to avoid.

 _Junko Enoshima, the fashion model._

"How funny! So did I, though well before you, I'm sure! Of course, I'm sure you know who I am so we won't bother with that, but I may as well introduce you to my ugly sister. Her name is Mukuro Ikusaba-and _yes,_ it's written the way you think it is and _no_ , I'm not telling you why-and she's had the title of SHSL Soldier. She's essentially my bodyguard now, but yeah, fighting's all she's good at really. But anyhow, who are you, and what title did you have then?"

Mitarai raised an eyebrow as he looked from Enoshima to Ikusaba and back again. Ikusaba didn't seem to care about the insult, and even seemed pleased. _Perhaps she's used to it._ That made sense, if they were siblings as Enoshima claimed. Still, he didn't think that Ikusaba was necessarily ugly. Plainer, sure, and wearing no make-up to speak of, but she clearly had the same facial structure of Enoshima- _so yeah, they're probably siblings-_ , and Enoshima was far from ugly. It was more as if Ikusaba was the ordinary girl, and Enoshima was the result of a transformation, like a magical girl. Not that magical girls were known for dressing as fashion models, but then there was _Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku_ , where the magical girl appearances varied wildly from actual magical-girl looks to a nun, a dog and a ninja, amongst other things. A fashion-model magical girl wasn't so strange in such a context…

…. _Get a grip, Ryouta! That's not the point right now!_

Pretending that his cheeks weren't reddening up, he stammered through his introduction.

"R-Ryouta Mitarai, f-former SHSL Animator. I g-graduated last year."

"Animator, huh?" Enoshima considered this. "So you're into anime and all that. Pssh, how boring."

"B-boring?!" Mitarai spluttered.

"Well, sure." Enoshima made a dismissive gesture. "Who needs anime? What use does it have?"

"W-what use? A-anime h-has a very important p-place i-in our c-culture and history, you know! I-it has the p-potential to change the world!"

"Aww, the poor little Otaku's getting all worked up. "She sneered. Mitarai flinched at that, for a moment recalling his childhood of bullying. But then he steeled himself, and glared.

"If you don't mind, Enoshima-san, I'd like to continue with my shopping." He said stiffly, pulling a few ready meals off the shelf at random, flinging them into his basket, and moving to leave when suddenly, Enoshima's expression morphs from mocking to serious, and she grabs his arm, preventing him from leaving.

"H-hey!" he looked around for help, but nobody seemed to be paying attention.

"….Changing the world, did you say?"

"Huh?" Mitarai blinked, that being the last thing he expected to hear. He watched as Enoshima and Ikusaba exchanged a look.

"Junko-Chan, am I right to suspect that you're thinking what I think you're thinking?" Ikusaba asked tentatively.

"I'd hardly credit you with that much ability, dearest Onee-Chan, but I strongly suspect this to be the case anyway. And you'll have to go with it." Enoshima retorted. Ikusaba sighed at this, but again, did not seem too bothered.

Pleased with herself, Enoshima turned and faced Mitarai, still gripping onto his arm. She regarded him seriously for another moment, as if confirming something, and then nodded, looking pleased.

"Well then, Mitarai-kun. If you're serious with that nonsense about changing the world, then I have a proposal for you."

* * *

 **Random Fact About This Chapter You Probably Didn't Need To Know (But I'm Sharing Anyway): The MahoIku comparison that Mitarai comes up with here is meant to be a joke that doesn't really have any logic to it but came about because MahoIku reminded me a lot of Dangan Ronpa while I was watching it, and somehow my brain connected magical girl transformations to the Despair sisters and this happened. But it kind of failed. It was funny in my head though, I promise *sweat-drop***

 **But anyway, these 'Scraps of the Past' chapters are all single-scene chapters that deal with an aspect of things and events that occurred before and leading up to the killing game our cast were caught up in. They are all things/events that are inaccessible to the Survivors, either because it took place in the window of time that the memory wipe took away from them, or because they are not the person whom the event is centring around, or because they were not around in the area at that time, or similar reasons. Out of the 'Scraps of the Past' chapters I have already written and am planning on, the range of POVs include other AU versions of canon characters, people connected/related to the Survivors (or the dead characters), an original character whose name you'll see mentioned in other chapters (both normal and special), as well as some from the POV of the dead characters. None will be from the POV of the Survivors' themselves, because not only will they appear/get mentioned in various 'Scraps of the Past' chapters anyway, they have the main story to shine in anyway, so they don't really need these chapters.  
** **Where other future 'Scraps of the Past' chapters are concerned, they'll appear after every five chapters or so. As with these things, sometimes there will be larger or smaller gaps between them, and if I am particularly short for time in completing a normal chapter, I may 'bring forward' a 'Scraps of the Past' chapter, because as I have mentioned, they are shorter due to being single scenes, and thus easier to write up, or in the case of ones which I have already written, to edit/revamp.**

 **This chapter deals with the AU version of Mitarai. My brain is pretty dead for numbers and probably will be for the next couple of months (research project, blame the research project), but here, according to what I attempted to calculate, he would have been in the 74th Class, rather than the 77th. But his classmates were all the original 77th Class guys. This also takes place some months before the 78th Class join Hope's Peak, roughly in the middle of September to be specific.**

 **So yeah, that's all for now. I hope all of that makes some sort of sense to you, and I hope you enjoyed this very first 'Scraps of the Past' chapter. As always, please leave feedback.**

 **(Now, time for me to go back to staring in the deep abyss of coursework...wish me luck XD)**


	7. And Here We Gather Again

_Tyson_

As I woke up, the noise around me rushed my ears, and for a moment I forgot where I was, until I glimpsed clouds through the small window and remembered: I was on a plane, flying back towards my friends.

Rubbing my eyes and yawning, I took a glance at my watch, which read 10:55pm. I hadn't changed over the time yet, but I knew that in a few hours, when I landed, it would be just past 11am there. But I also knew that they gave reminders of the local time when they landed, so that wasn't anything to worry about. I looked back out of the window, looking at but not really seeing the endlessly stretching sky.

The last time that I had ever been on a plane, I had been heading home after everything that had happened, sitting too-stiffly in my seat, looking out for any danger and refusing to let myself sleep despite the length of the flight. Then there was the time before that, feeling shy and awkward, diligently studying both my phrasebook and the letter from Hope's Peak that had all the instructions on how I would get to the school once I landed. Both times, I had been alone and in an unfamiliar situation-first as a foreigner, then as a Survivor. Both had been identities I was proud of in a way, but even so, both had been isolating.

Now I was coming back, as a foreigner and a Survivor. I was still a bit wary, and I still kept a phrasebook tucked into my hand luggage. But this time, I was also a friend. I'd made arrangements such that Wakana would pick me up at the airport, and then we'd make our way together to the train station that Akira had proposed we all meet up at, before heading to his house. Knowing that when I had come off the plane and collected my luggage and done everything else, that I would be greeted by a familiar face-as opposed to a strange member of staff, or the paparazzi- meant the world to me. _This time, I'm not alone._ If there was anything that made me glad to be a Survivor, it was that.

I leaned forward and pulled out one of the magazines in the holder on the seat in front of me. Despite the fact it still felt like the middle of the night for me, I somehow didn't expect that I would be falling back asleep again. So it made sense to find a way to pass the rest of the time-and looking through the listings for a good in-flight movie seemed like the best way to go about it.

 **…**

 _Noriko_

August was Kimihiro's month.

It felt a little strange, setting off to see my fellow Survivors in the month that I had mapped out as being the month to grieve for him in. December was _our_ month, the month of the Survivors, and I wondered if maybe I shouldn't have pushed a little harder for meeting in December, instead. Somehow, it didn't feel like I was grieving properly, using August for someone else instead.

Then again, it made sense. _I miss you all._ When we'd made these plans, it had been in June, triggered by Chieko, candidly admitting that on our group. And June was Koutarou's month, and so that made it almost fitting that it had been that month when we had decided on all of this. Besides, the summer did make more sense, as a time for this sort of thing. Endlessly stretching out, it was the time of year that was just asking to be filled with escapades of this nature, to be filled with moments that we'd grasped with both hands and experienced as full on as possible.

And it would be a disservice to all 11 of the dead, Kimihiro, Koutarou and everyone else, if we didn't grasp all moments with both hands and experience them to the full, wouldn't it? _It would, wouldn't it?_

In any case, I had all his music on my phone. I had a good data signal on my phone. And I had memories, such as they were.

 _With his explanation over, we waited with bated breath to see what she would say to that._

"… _If this what comes of it, this love you claim to have for me, then I want none of it." The words came out slowly, but sharp all the same. "I don't want to be part of a love that murders, that uses love as a justification for murder. I want none of it."_

" _Oh my….." I blinked at that, a little surprised at the fire in that answer._

" _Ooooh, buuuuurn." Hokuto said, eyes wide as she watched the exchange agog. I rolled my eyes at that, I heard Masashi mutter at her to shut up-for once, I agreed with him._

 _As for the two of them, they didn't seem to have heard at all, as they regarded each other carefully. Kimihiro, who had looked disconsolate the whole way through his confession, unexpectedly smiled, though it was a small, small thing. If I hadn't been looking straight at him, I would have thought I'd imagined it._

" _Ah, I had a feeling you'd probably say something like that." Kimihiro shrugged, blushing ever so slightly. "But, you know, I think that's why I fell for you in the first place."_

Is…he crying? _I frowned as I peered through my glasses at him. His voice was still clear, he was still calm and definitely not sniffling or red-eyed or anything that would suggest he was. But that strained smile was nowhere near the candid, straightforward, slightly lopsided ones that he usually had for us all, and there was something filmy about his eyes as he spoke._

 _And somehow, that made me want to cry too._

"Riko! Shouldn't you be leaving now?" Sachiko's voice suddenly called over from the bathroom, cutting the flashback off.

"Yeah, I'm about to!" I called out, concentrating on putting on my shoes. I had just gotten up and found my jacket hanging on the coat holder by the door when Sachiko came back out.

"Well," she grinned. "Suppose it's a good thing you're still here. I wouldn't have been able to see you off otherwise. Hey, you sure you don't want me to drive you down or something?"

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly at that.

"I can get a bus directly to the station. And the bus stop is down the road. I'll be fine, Chiko." I reassured, shrugging the jacket on, and then deciding to push up the sleeves on a moment of impulse before grabbing ahold of my suitcase's handle and pulling it out so I could drag it along. Sachiko picked up my shoulder bag off the floor and handed it to me.

"Yes, well. If you need anything, you know where to reach me." She said as she then went to open the apartment door for me.

"Yep, I do!" I stepped outside, and then turned back around. "Hey, Chiko?"

"Hmm?" Having almost shut the door behind me, Sachiko peered confusedly at me.

"Thanks. For everything."

 _Hey, what's come over you, Noriko?_ I wasn't sure, but it felt like something that needed to be said. Alongside the Survivors, Sachiko was my most important friend, after all.

"Riko…." Sachiko's expression softened. "Hey, it's what best friends are for, right?"

"Yep, they are." I smiled a little wistfully thinking about it, and then grinned. "So, see you in a few weeks' time!"

 **…**

 _Masashi_

Akira shook his head the moment he opened the door and regarded me with a raised eyebrow.

"I really could have picked you up, you know."

"Pssh, don't be so silly, Akira-tan." I retorted, dragging my bags inside as he closed the door behind me. "You're already putting us up, and picking everyone else up from the station."

"It honestly wouldn't have been any trouble. Well, you're here now. Let's take your bags up. I figured that we could share my room, if that's fine with you?"

"Yeah, sure." I shrugged. I hadn't really thought much about it, but I figured room sharing was going to end up being a thing anyway, so I was fine with that.

"Though if you're weird about sharing a bed, I've pulled down a few sleeping bags from the attic." Akira continued on calmly.

"It's _fine_." I emphasised. Akira, a few stairs up ahead of me, turned around and smiled, before we made the rest of the way up.

Having never been upstairs in his house before, I had no idea where his bedroom was or what it looked like. It turned out to be the second on the left, right next to the master bedroom- _I wonder who'll get that one._ It was a medium sized room, simply furnished deal with walls painted in light blue and a soft, darker blue carpet, with curtains in a similar shade. Apart from a book laid face down on the bedside table, a green neck tie hanging off of the handle of the wardrobe and the quilt being slightly rumpled, the room was neat. And, of course, there was a sleeping bag in the far corner of the room, rolled up and leaning against the wall.

"So, uh, where should I put my stuff?"

Akira considered this for a moment.

"Just dump your bags on the bed. We can sort things out later on."

"Cool." I did just that, then reached for one of them and opened them, and pulled out the small shopping bag that I'd put in there, before zipping it up again. Akira stared curiously.

"What's that?" he asked, as we made our way downstairs. I wordlessly pulled out the small soft toy that I'd brought for Shizuka. It was a frog that had a slightly cartoonish appearance to it, dressed up in a bright pink leotard and tutu, as well as those fancy ribbon-y shoes and a little crown. It looked rather goofy, but in a good way. _Hopefully, she'll like it._

"Ahhh." Akira nodded, clearly not needing an explanation as to why I'd be toting around a ballerina frog.

"I did consider a penguin when I was at the shop, because those looked quite cute too, but there was this random documentary I remembered watching ages ago, some wildlife one. The penguins in that were freaking _savage_. I'll never be able to look at those birds in the same way ever again." I shuddered at the thought. For a moment, Akira just gawped at me for a moment, before tipping his head back and laughing.

"I'm _serious_!" I protested, mock-offended. "Have you seen the teeth on those things?"

"No," Akira shook his head, trying to contain his laughter. "I haven't. Penguin savagery, that's a new one on me, Masa-san. Anyway, do you want anything to drink?"

I put the toy frog back in the shopping bag, then wrapped the bag tightly around it and tucked it into one of my jeans pockets.

"Meh, any juice or something, if you have it."

"I stocked up, so I should do." Akira opened his fridge, and I leaned against the wall opposite while he looked through. "So, there's orange, apple, strawberry, mixed fruit…?"

"Apple works for me." I said. Back still turned to me, Akira nodded as he pulled out the carton. He then rummaged for a moment before finding another carton, this one of mixed fruit juice, then closed the fridge, and went to one of the cupboards to hunt up some glasses, and took down two, before pouring the apple juice in one and handing it to me.

"Thanks. So, what time are we going to get everyone else then?"

"Given where everyone's coming from, if we get to Towa Central by three, that should be more than fine." Akira replied as he got his own glass of juice.

"Oh, okay, we've got a bit of time, haven't we?"

"Yeah, we have."

"Cool." _I wonder who'll get there first?_ I considered this, and realised I honestly had no idea whatsoever.

"So, how is everyone coming, do you know?" I asked.

"Tyson-san's flight would have come in about half an hour ago, and I know Wakana-san's getting a taxi and picking him up on the way. I think the others are all using public transport from their respective places, though I'd imagine at least some of them are getting lifts of some sort part of the way. And then of course, there's us, driving." Akira answered as he put the cartons away and then came to join me.

"Indeed." I deadpanned. Akira raised an eyebrow at me as we stood in the kitchen with our juice.

"I'm looking forward to it too." I mused. "Actually, I'm really excited. It will be fun, won't it, being all together again?"

 _Especially since we've been apart for too long._

"Yes, it will. Although…" Akira trailed off, and I lowered my glass to stare at him.

"Although?" I pressed. Akira looked down at his own glass, and sighed.

"I guess I'm a little bit nervous, too."

"Ah." I didn't press any further. This time, it was me who didn't need any explanations as to why. Seeing them all for the first time in all these years was of course going to be a bit strange. I'd probably find they looked a lot different to the people I remembered, and of course I'd probably look pretty damn different. And then of course, where Akira and I were concerned, there were some pretty specific nerves about seeing Chieko again, though for completely different reasons for each of us.

Taking another long sip of my juice, I looked up at the ceiling. _What will these two weeks bring us?_

"I'll be okay though." Akira added. I looked over at him, and saw he was smiling. I grinned back, and relaxed.

"Of course you will, mate."

 _Of course we will. It's us, after all.  
_

 **…**

 _Wakana_

Though of course the airport was fairly busy, as airports tended to be, there weren't that many people waiting for others, which was a relief for me, or I would have ended up having to peer over way too many people's shoulders as I looked out for Tyson. Instead, I could relax somewhat, sitting on a bench as I looked out for him. While I waited, I looked around at what was going on, at the different people reuniting, or saying farewell to each other, waiting in queues and talking to each other, or passing the time in solitude, looking at their phones or a book or a newspaper. I wondered what they were doing, where they were going. Whether any of them were as sad as I was, and how long they'd been like that.

 _Ah, it's no use thinking like that. They could be. They could be even more so._ It wasn't fair for me to wonder like this. But still, I did. After a few more moments of looking around and wondering at other people's sorrows, a new group of passengers making their way out of the airport appeared, and one of them was a tall man, his dirty-blond hair tied into a ponytail and dark brown eyes tired as he scanned the area, dragging along two very large black roll-along suitcases with large orange tags tied around the handle. Balanced on the top of one of the suitcases was a very large sports bag with many zips, and he also had a backpack on his back. _That is him, right? He looks very different…_ I didn't get up straight away, but instead waited for him to notice me. And when he did, he blinked and stared for a good few moments before suddenly, he smiled widely, apparently recognising me straight away.

"Abe, Ma'am." He called out as he rapidly started to walk in my direction. I got up, shaking my head in amusement. _Ah, at least some of the good things never change._

"De Guerre-Chan, really. You could call me by my given name, at least." I told him, unable to help but smile back. "Anyway, how are you? How was the flight?"

"Not too bad, actually. It's been the first time in years I've been on a flight, actually." Tyson yawned. "And I think jetlag's hitting me now. Though I did get some sleep on the flight."

"Ah, jetlag. I'm no stranger to that. So, when was the last time you were on a flight?" I asked. Tyson just blinked at me, and after a moment I realised what I had just asked, and sighed heavily.

"Right. Stupid question. I'm sorry."

Tyson shook his head amiably, even as he fought off another yawn. _Ah, this feels so easy. When was the last time something resembling friendship felt so easy?_ Suddenly, the realisation hit me that apart from seeing Chieko regularly, and keeping in touch with the other Survivors, it hadn't been. And that this had made life so much emptier.

"Ah, that's no issue, really. You travel a lot, don't you?" he asked as we started to make our way back out to where my taxi was waiting. I mentally shelved the depressing (though hardly new) realisation and focused back upon our conversation.

"Yeah, mostly still within Japan, but I'm no stranger to flights. Funnily enough, I've not been to London yet though. I'll have to change that soon."

"If and when, I'm more than willing to put you up, though my flat is quite small, given it's above my shop and all. But I might be getting ahead of myself there."

"I appreciate the thought though, so thank you. Ah!" Getting to the taxi, I noticed Matsui was busy reading a magazine, so I tapped on the window. He looked up, startled, and then pressed a button so the window rolled down.

"Your friend has arrived, then, Abe-san?" he asked, putting his magazine down and opening the door on his side to get out.

"Yes, he has." I indicated to Tyson. "This is Tyson De Guerre. De Guerre-Chan, this is Matsui-san. He's done a lot of airport runs for me before."

"Pleased to meet you, sir. Thank you for taking us." Tyson said, instantly holding his hand out to shake. Matsui took it and beamed heartily.

"It is no problem at all, no problem at all. Now, let's get your cases in the back, shall we?" Matsui opened up the boot, and then reached for Tyson's sports bag, and put it in, before reaching for the suitcases and doing the same, Tyson helping him with these two in particular.

"I see you've brought a lot along with you! What is it, the Crown Jewels?" Matsui joked. Tyson stared at him in confusion, and Matsui laughed.

"Sorry, sorry. But it looks like you've packed for two months, rather than two weeks!"

"Most of the second suitcase is paintings." Tyson explained mildly, still looking bemused.

"Paintings?" I interjected, a little puzzled. Tyson looked over his shoulder at me. "Your own?"

"Yes, my own ones. I've got one for you, actually."

"Me?" I was speechless for a moment. _Me?_ Tyson went slightly red, and then rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well, I've got a painting for everyone. I'll be better able to explain when we're at Kazama's house, if that's okay with you?"

"Yes, sure." I was still more than confused though. _A painting? For me? What is it of? Is it significant? For everyone? That's….?_

"Righty-o, then. Do you want to put your backpack in here too, De Guerre-san?" Matsui asked. Tyson considered, then took it off.

"May as well. Thank you, Matsui, sir."

Once Matsui had done that, he closed up the boot and then opened the back door of the taxi for us. Instantly, Tyson indicated that I should get in first.

"After you Wakana, Ma'am."

I smiled at that, and obliged. Tyson got in after me and shut the door, and then Matsui went around to the front and got in himself. Then, once we had buckled in our seatbelts, we were off again. One step closer to the reunion.

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

Finishing the sandwich, I crumpled the packaging and stuffed it back into the carrier bag, then set it on the table and leaned back in my seat, looking out of the window, watching buildings and trees racing past and blurring with the speed of the train. After a few moments, the motion made me feel a little strange, so instead I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a look at the messages, to remind myself of what meet-up arrangements we had made.

 _Good Morning,_ Akira had typed. _I've talked to everyone separately about their different travel arrangements, and so based on that I will be waiting at Towa Central train station from 3pm. I will specifically be waiting by the Green Leaf café, so if any of you get there before myself and Masa-san, then please wait there. I look forward to seeing you all._

 _Cool, that's no problem! See you there!_ Noriko had replied.

 _Green Leaf café?_ Chieko had asked. _I don't remember that._

I'd then typed: _Yeah, that's not ringing any bells =P_

 _They only opened a few years ago, so you wouldn't have._ Akira had explained after that. Having momentarily been confused, I momentarily face-palmed as I read that. Of course there would be new establishments in Towa after all this time. _Hokuto, you silly._ Shaking my head, I scrolled through the rest.

 _Okay, I pulled this off of the internet, but this is what it looks like if this helps._ Attached to the message was a picture, and I tapped it to take a closer look, and committed it to memory. Then I scrolled through the rest of the messages, which were not really particularly saying anything in particular, just the usual chatting combined with a few updates on where everyone still was. I was about to add one of my own when the train announcement interrupted my flow of thought.

"The next station will be Towa Central. The next station will be Towa Central."

"Huh, already?" I said aloud to myself, before shrugging and getting up, grabbing the carrier bag and my luggage and lugging it towards the door, waiting for the train to come to a stop. When it did, I hopped off as gracefully as one could with a suitcase and an over-stuffed shoulder bag, and the first thing I did was approach the nearest bin so I could throw my rubbish away, before I looked around me.

A lot of the station was the same, more or less, from what I remembered. Different adverts on the boards and walls, some areas with a new lick of paint, but the same set up and layout seemed the same. It even seemed reasonably busy-even after what had happened, people still had lives that took them in and out of Towa, after all. _Strange. This is so strange._

Finding my train ticket, I strode over to the ticket barriers, pretending that I hadn't momentarily been bowled over, and fed the ticket through the barrier so that it would let me out. Then, I kept walking, and looked around until I saw a place that resembled the Green Leaf café, and headed straight that way.

Finding a spot that where I wouldn't be in everyone's way, but would still have a good view of the surroundings, I settled myself outside the building, and took my shoulder bag off and put it down on the ground next to my suitcase and looked around, momentarily considering the café itself, idly wondering what it was like, especially compared to Café Tanabata. Then, I took out my phone again, and quickly snapped a photo of Green Leaf café, before opening up the group chat.

 _Here's a better photo! :)_ I typed as the photo caption. _I'm already here!_

Grinning to myself, I sent it and then waited.

 _We're sort-of almost there, hit some traffic, but even so shouldn't take too long,_ Wakana replied almost immediately.

 _We've a little while to go too, but not too far._ Chieko put in.

 _Holy-moly, you're fast!_ Noriko typed. _I shouldn't be too far behind though either ^^_

 _Hey, so Akira-tan's driving so he can't type anything for now, but we've just set off ourselves, so he wanted to say that you shouldn't have to wait too long, Nanto-tan. =D =D_ Masashi's response followed after a couple of moments.

 _Perfect,_ I replied. _See you all soon!_

 **…**

 _Akira_

It wasn't difficult to spot Hokuto once we got there. Not just because she was the only one waiting out there with a lot of luggage, but because she recognised us pretty much almost as soon as she caught sight of us, and started to wave wildly.

"Oh, awesome! You're here!"

"Ah, sorry, Nanto-san." I apologised. "Were you waiting long?"

"No, no, it was no big deal." Hokuto beamed, before she proceeded to study us, peering at us through her black framed glasses. _Glasses…huh?_ I mentally berated myself, telling myself to pull it together. There would surely be more surprises where appearance was concerned, and possibly more besides.

"You've got that other bit done pink, too." She said to me after a moment. Self-consciously. I reached up to touch my hair.

"Yeah."

"Like Hibi-Chan's." Hokuto observed. She nodded once at that, seemingly pleased with the observation. "That's nice, I like that."

"Uh, well….thank you." I stuttered out, slightly thrown at the mention of Hibiki but trying to hold back. _It's okay, it's okay…_

"Speaking of hair, yours was _blue_ last time I saw you!" Masashi interjected, frowning exaggeratedly at Hokuto, who just shrugged and chuckled somewhat sheepishly.

"It became a bit troublesome to keep dying it, you know? So I just let it grow back out again."

"Ah, well, fair enough." Masashi shrugged. "That makes sense. So anyway, what's up with your café?"

"It's fine, really. Not the busiest place in the world, but we have a whole lot of regulars and a steady flow of customers, so it's bumbling along nicely-though as I am saying that, it has its crazy moments too, for sure. It's in Orihime's hands while I'm away, but I don't think that'll be too much of a problem, really. She'll probably enjoy being the boss for a while." Hokuto grinned and pulled a face.

"Orihime, that's your sister, right?" I checked.

"Yup."

We continued along like this for a few moments, engaging in small talk about this and that all Hokuto regarded us and we regarded her carefully, no doubt trying to match up the actual people with the sparse memories that we had. I couldn't quite believe that this moment was happening, that we were gradually starting to gather back together again.

"Oh, hey, I think that's them!"

I looked over at where Hokuto was pointing, but out of the new stream of people who had clearly come off the next train, I could not quite discern who it was she was talking about.

"Who do you mea-"I started to ask, but cut myself off as two figures cut away from the crowd and started to approach us. A woman wearing a backpack and dragging a suitcase, and a child with a little backpack of her own, the two of them holding hands. Chieko and Shizuka.

 _Suddenly, the area went all black, obscuring the mock doctor's office, Koutarou's body, everything. Nearly as quickly as it had started, the execution had ended. But still, I found myself staring in the same direction, as if there was still something there to watch. It was not that I wanted to see it all again-_ even if this is justice for Hibiki, it's too far, too far, _a little voice in my head tried to insist, but all the same, I waited and stared, hoping for something to change. Because something had to, right? Now that Koutarou had been found out and punished for her, something would change, right? I would feel better. But…._

" _That...this isn't really happening, right?"_

 _At that, I turned back around to the mock-courtroom area. Chieko was back at her own stand, slightly hunched over, hands over her mouth, eyes darting everywhere but not really looking anywhere. Wakana and Kanekatsu were the closest to her, but it was Wakana attempting to do most of the comforting, while Kanekatsu simply looked on, obviously troubled but with nothing to say._

" _Chieko-Chan…I don't know what to say….that was so awful, I'm sorry you had to watch that." Wakana half-rambled as she held Chieko close to her. Chieko seemed to shudder, and her hands moved further, to cover her face._

" _That didn't….that didn't happen…."_

" _Yes, it did!"_

 _Almost before I knew what I was doing, I had taken a few large steps over to Chieko, something bristling and angry, frustrated and bereft. Hands falling back to her sides, she looked up at me wildly, and I noticed her eyes were red-rimmed. But that wasn't enough to halt anything._

" _It did happen! All of this, it happened, so don't deny it! Ueda-san killed my sister, face it!"_

" _W-wait, Kazama-kun…." Wakana attempted._

" _And more to the point, how did you not notice this before? I thought you two were best friends! How did you not realise what he had done? How can you still stand there and say that none of this happened, that he was innocent?"_

" _Kazama-kun, this does not help matters any." Kanekatsu stepped forward slightly, as if to shield Chieko, but I could still see her, see how she was barely reacting even though she was looking right at me._

" _You could have done something, you know! If you were Ueda-san's best friend, you should have been able to stop him, somehow, you could have noticed that he was planning to kill and tried to prevent it! And wasn't Hibiki your friend too? You should have cared about that too, and instead you're just going on and on and on about how he couldn't have possibly have done it, how he wasn't that type of person, just because you were so blind as to-"_

" _Kazama, sir! Stand down!"_

 _I felt Tyson grab at one of my arms, and someone else grab at another-I looked over to discover it was Daisuke, who gave me a grim look. Masashi appeared next to him, and pulled a face at me._

" _Yo, mate, let's go over to one of those rec rooms and let off some goddamn steam there, okay? You're just gonna make yourself fucking sick if you carry on here. Okay?"_

I let out a breath, tried to make myself relax. That had been long ago, in the heat of the moment. And afterwards, later that day, when we were all reluctantly gathered for dinner in the cafeteria, I'd gone to apologise to her afterwards. I'd tried to look after too, the same way the others seemed to do as the game had progressed, and then again as we were escaping. And then, months later, when Wakana had messaged the rest of us to tell us that Shizuka had been born, I had taken her up on the offer to go with her to meet Shizuka, though I had still been adjusting to the Future Foundation at that time. _It'll be fine. It'll be okay._

"Akamine-Chan!" Hokuto waved as they got nearer. Chieko let go of Shizuka's hand to quickly wave back.

"Good afternoon," she said softly. "Ho-Chi, Kita-kun, Akira-kun."

She looked at each of us as she said our names, and her gaze rested for a little longer on my face. Somehow, I could tell that she, too, was thinking of those times. I gave her a solid nod, and a reassuring smile.

"Good afternoon, Akamine-san. How was your journey?"

"Oh, not too bad." Chieko's shoulders relaxed slightly. "Shizuka enjoyed being on the train, didn't you?"

At this, the child, who was regarding us three with wide-eyed wonder, blushed and edged behind Chieko's legs ever so slightly. I turned my smile onto her, and knelt down very slightly.

"Hello there. You must be Shizuka, am I right?"

"Mhm." Shizuka mumbled, clinging to Chieko's jeans. Chieko smiled down at her and ruffled her hair.

"We've been looking forward to meet you, right, guys?" Hokuto put in at this, beaming. "I'm Hokuto Nanto, that's Akira Kazama, and the other guy's Masashi Kita. There are a few others too, as I'm sure your Mummy's been telling you."

Masashi spluttered a little at being called 'the other guy', but didn't say anything. Though, now I was looking at him, I noticed that he seemed to be blushing slightly as he looked in Chieko and Shizuka's direction.

"Wakana-san?" Shizuka snuck a look at Hokuto.

"Yup, that's right! She'll be here soon! But in any case, we've heard a lot about you, so we're so happy you could make it here."

Shizuka nodded warily, still studying us. Straightening and sticking my hands in my pockets, I studied her, in turn, marvelling at how much she looked like a smaller and brighter version of Chieko. The only visible trace of Koutarou that I could see on her was her skin colour, and somehow that startled me a little. I knew that this was not how genetics worked (and I was sure that if I were ever to voice these sentiments, Noriko would be eager to tell me so), but I had always thought that because of how Shizuka had come to be, she should have something more of Koutarou in her, to be seen.

On the other hand, it was easier on my heart, that she resembled Chieko, instead of Koutarou.

"Isn't that nice, Shizuka?" Chieko asked her. She looked up and nodded slightly, before returning to looking at us, still half-hiding behind Chieko's legs. Masashi grinned, and pulled the small bag out of his pocket, before going over to kneel properly in front of Shizuka.

"I've got something for you, Shizuka-tan. Here." Masashi held it out. Shizuka stared, then looked up at Chieko.

"Mummy?"

"Go on, take it." She encouraged. To Masashi, she said. "Oh, you didn't need too."

"Ahaha, but I _wanted_ to!"

Shizuka let go of Chieko's jeans and accepted the bag, and then looked inside it. Surprise flickered over her face as she then pulled out the toy frog that Masashi had shown me earlier. Inspecting it from all angles, she examined the frog's happy face, the pretty ballet outfit and crown, before she suddenly beamed and looked confidently at Masashi.

"Yosa's so cute!" she giggled. "Thank you….erm…."

The happy expression momentarily lapsed into a frown as she struggled to remember his name.

"Ah, you can just call me Masa, it's okay." Masashi said quickly as he got up again. Shizuka's smile returned.

"Okay, Masa-san."

Chieko shook her head in a sort of fond amazement as she ruffled Shizuka's hair and took the now-empty carrier bag from her.

"You really didn't need to, Kita-kun." She repeated. Masashi shook his head firmly, looking pretty pleased with himself. _What's up with Masa-san?_

"Ah, so anyway, is Yosa the frog's name?" Hokuto asked. Shizuka nodded and giggled, seemingly a lot more relaxed now.

"It's a good name, right? Mummy, you think so too, right?"

"Yes, I do." Chieko smiled softly at her. _She looks so tired._

"Yup, it's a pretty cool name!" Hokuto grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. "Where did you get it from?"

"I don't know." Shizuka shrugged and giggled again, hugging the toy frog tightly. "It just came into my head!"

"Ah, I see, I see." Hokuto said sagely. She then proceeded to chat with Shizuka for a little while, while myself, Masa and Chieko exchanged a few words of small talk. A few moments later, I spotted a woman wearing an indigo and black patterned jacket come through the ticket barriers, dragging a suitcase behind her, seemingly frowning at her surroundings. Once she was out, she stopped for a moment, and pulled her earphones out, before taking her phone from her pocket and looking at something on there, trying to compare whatever she had on the screen to where she was now. She was still a little too far away to discern her features, but the way she moved told me that this was definitely Noriko.

"Is that Noriko-Chan?" Chieko wondered, also spotting her.

"Which one? The blond?" Hokuto asked, frowning in that direction. Chieko nodded and indicated.

"Eh, well, only one way to find out, right?" Masashi suggested. Before I could interject that I thought it was her, or even ask what he meant, he suddenly took a deep breath and called out.

"YO, EDANO-TAN! We're over here!"

I sighed and covered my face for a moment as some of the others in the station turned to stare at us in astonishment, but when I looked up again the woman I had spotted had put her phone away and was coming straight towards us. _So, I was right._

"Somehow, Kita-kun, I'm not even surprised that that was you yelling out there." She said almost instantly by way of greeting. Masashi glowered comically at her.

"What's that meant to mean?" he muttered. Noriko laughed.

"Ah, nothing, nothing. But to be fair, that made life easier for me." She admitted, before looking around at all of us contemplatively through her blue-framed glasses. At Hokuto, she stopped and stared.

"Your hair is supposed to be blue." She stated simply.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

I wasn't really sure what the joke was, exactly, but it had Masashi burst out laughing almost immediately, and Akira quietly chuckled while shaking his head. But even so, when Hokuto joined in with their laughter, I managed to smile, too. I was mostly just pleased that things were getting off to a good start, that this was looking like the good idea I had hoped it to be.

"Yes, well, your hair is _blond,_ and shorter too! And you're only wearing one pair of glasses….which, now I'm thinking about it, that means I can't call you Double Glasses anymore!" Hokuto realised, pulling a face. Noriko raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you still _want_ to call me Double Glasses?" Noriko enquired. Hokuto simply shrugged at that.

"Well, it is a bit strange to really see how much everybody has changed in appearance. I mean, logically knowing it is one thing, but really seeing it is another." Akira pointed out.

I nodded at that, because it was true to an extent. There were height changes and hair changes and even to an extent brightness changes. I wasn't sure how much of that was just me projecting my own feelings onto them, but to me it seemed that we'd all been dulled down a bit. Even Hokuto and Noriko and Masashi, who were all pretty sparky still, hadn't escaped that.

Though I'd seen some of these changes emerge over the small handful of Skype conversations we'd somehow managed to coordinate and the few irregular times we had seen each other in person, the realisation became something else, now that we were all specifically gathering together. And I guess the effect was more so for those of us who'd had less contact for whichever reasons. More real, somehow. Easier to grasp and understand.

"Yeah, what he said pretty much." Masashi shrugged. "I wonder how different Abe-tan and De Guerre-tan will look."

"Well…." There weren't really going to be any surprises for me where Wakana was concerned, so I wasn't sure what to say there.

"We'll see, when they get here." Akira said.

"Mummy?" I looked down at Shizuka, who was frowning at me curiously. "When _is_ Wakana-san going to get here? Will it be soon?"

"Yes, I think so."

"They got caught in traffic a while back, I think." Hokuto answered. "Hold on, I'll check to see if they've said anything…."

Hokuto pulled out her phone and scrolled for a moment.

"Oh, okay, new message from Abe-Chan a couple of minutes ago….she think's they'll get here in about 10 minutes."

"Oh, that's good!" Noriko exclaimed.

"See, she'll be here soon." I told Shizuka. "Do you want to be our lookout?"

Shizuka tilted her head curiously.

"Lookout?" she repeated.

"Yeah. See if you can spot them coming, and then tell us when they are. They'll be coming from….. over there."

I had to think about it for a moment before pointing over to the exit that led out to the street.

"So, what do you think?"

Shizuka considered this, then held her frog up.

"Can Yosa help me?"

"Sure!"

"Okay then!" Shizuka beamed, hugging the frog- _Yosa,_ I mentally corrected.-back to her. "I'll be lookout!"

She bounced a few steps over to where it would be easier to see the exit, and then stood there seriously, looking straight ahead intensely. I chuckled at that, and then half keeping an eye on her, I focused back on my friends as Hokuto told us some funny stories about difficult customers at her café. And a few minutes later, Shizuka started to bounce in excitement and wave eagerly.

"Wakana-san! Mummy, Wakana-san's here!" She informed me without turning around. When Wakana got closer, Shizuka stopped bouncing and rushed at her. Tyson was right behind her, but Shizuka didn't seem to notice him, so excited she was at seeing Wakana.

"Wakana-san!" she leapt at Wakana and hugged her tightly, causing Wakana to stumble a bit.

"Woah, Shizuka-Chan!" Wakana patted Shizuka gently, then carefully wriggled away so she could re-grip her luggage, before kneeling down to her height.

"Were you waiting for us?"

"Yup! I was being the 'lookout' for you!" she announced. "And look! This is Yosa! Masa-san gave him to me!"

"Ohh, what a fine looking frog. That was nice of Masashi-Chan, wasn't it?" Wakana said. Looking over Shizuka's shoulder, she caught my eye and smiled wryly before mouthing : _'him?'_ I just shrugged. It was probably some strange process of Shizuka's imagination, but probably not a big deal. Perhaps I'd try to probe her about it later, though.

"Well, thank you for being our lookout, Miss Shizuka." Tyson came and knelt down by Shizuka. I couldn't see her facial expression from here, but I could make a good guess as to what it looked like as she tried to hide behind Wakana, who quickly stood up again and gave him a tiny smile.

"De Guerre-Chan, you should probably introduce yourself."

"Ah yes, my apologies." Tyson smiled. "I'm Tyson De Guerre, and I'm very pleased to be making your acquaintance today, Miss Shizuka."

Tyson held out his hand encouragingly, and after a moment, Shizuka held out hers in return, and Tyson carefully shook it before getting up again. Shizuka took the opportunity to rush back to me, as Wakana and Tyson went to greet the others.

"Mummy," she whispered loudly. "He called me 'Miss Shizuka'."

"Do you not like it?" I asked, trying to hold back chuckles at how astonished she looked.

"Hmmmm..." Shizuka frowned. "It makes me sound like a _lady_. So I think yes."

"Well, that's alright then, isn't it?"

"Hmmmm…."

I shook my head in amusement and ruffled her hair fondly.

"So then, are we all ready to go?" Akira asked us.

"Yep!" Noriko and Hokuto cheerfully said in unison.

"Ready when you are." Tyson added. Wakana nodded and Masashi grinned. Which just left me to respond.

 _Ah, we're here all together, at last. I'm so glad._

"Yep." I said, taking Shizuka's hand. "Let's go."

* * *

 **Characters introduced this chapter**

 **Survivors**

 **Noriko Edano, former SHSL Geneticist (Belongs to: Dawnfire1551)**

 **Dead**

 **Kimihiro Arata, former SHSL DJ (Belongs to: chiaki ebooks)**

 **You'll notice that in the Kimihiro centric flashback, I didn't identify the girl he was talking to. Of course, it will end up revealed anyway, but I'm curious-who do you think it is, based on that and what you've seen of the introduced characters so far? Because that's the one hint I will give you for now: the girl is someone who has been introduced. So yeah, make your best guess in the review if you want :) :)**

 **But...anyway...after edits, and before adding the author's note, this chapter was 7587 words. That's probably the longest one of the chapters of this fic has been so far (at least before adding author's notes). And I've actually omitted scenes from this chapter to try and keep it reasonable (reasonable for me is between 3000-6000 words, and if I do end up over 6000 then not hitting 7000)...then again, I should have expected this from a chapter that's making use of all 7 POVs in one., especially given that I cannot write short scenes to save my life. Perhaps I should have split it, but I liked the idea of this particular chapter of the story having all 7 characters POVs. Oh well. Just remind me to never try doing something this insane again lol...**

 **Well, I can't really think of anything else to say right now, so I'll leave it at that for now. As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave feedback!**


	8. First Night, part 1

_Chieko_

The car stopped about halfway down this leafy road, in front of a two-storey, brown-brick house with a garage. Rather than grass or any flowerbeds in the front, it was simply paved. This was Akira's house. His family house, from what I could understand.

"So, this is your house?" Tyson asked. "It's a nice place."

"We've not even gone inside yet!" Noriko protested. "Though yes, nice place from what I can see."

"Umm…thank you." Akira chuckled as he got out. Masashi climbed out of the other side, and then they each opened one of the back doors, Hokuto and Noriko getting out on Masashi's side, and Tyson getting out from Akira's side. Then, Akira went around to the boot of the car, while Masashi pushed down the seat so that Wakana, Shizuka and I could get out. Wakana was the closest to the door, so she clambered out, and then Shizuka followed, Wakana helping her down, before I then finally clambered my way out.

"Need any help, Akamine-tan?" Masashi asked me.

"Nope, I'm alright." I said as I hopped down not-too-gracefully. "But thanks, though."

Masashi grinned at me, and then pushed the seat up, shut the car door, and then we went to Akira, who had pulled out most of everybody's bags out. Spotting mine and Shizuka's, I went over to get them and then waited for everyone else to sort themselves out. I hadn't noticed earlier, but it seemed like Tyson had the largest amount of luggage by far-not the amount of bags, that was similar to most of us-but it was more that the bags were huge. Perhaps he was just overcompensating for the two weeks, with spares of spares and other such precautions. In any case, it was not as if I could talk, given that I had extra paraphernalia too.

"Here, Masa-san, do you think you could let everyone in for me while I put the car back in the garage?" Akira asked, tossing what I assumed were his house keys. Masashi pretended to be annoyed but complied cheerily enough as he caught them, something which didn't surprise me much, thinking about it.

"Right, right, let's get everyone in. Does anyone need help? De Guerre-tan, what the hell is that? Did you bring your entire house with you or something?"

"Aha, well…..it's not _quite_ that extreme. Though, with that being said, I'm starting to think that I didn't think this through…ah, well, I'll be explaining to you guys soon enough anyway." Tyson replied, embarrassed as he dragged one of his large suitcases. I wondered what he was referring to.

Just as Masashi had got everyone into the hallway, Akira came in and almost instantly, Masashi tossed the keys back at him. It seemed to catch him off guard, but he managed to catch them nimbly enough before locking the door and turning to us.

"Okay….so we can do this two ways-decide the bedroom arrangements here, then we'll take everything up to the rooms, or we can take everything up, and then decide."

"Uh…" I looked at Wakana, who shrugged in response.

"We're already decided, by the way." Masashi announced, casually slinging his arm around Akira in a friendly headlock for a moment. "I'm sharing with Akira-tan here, so I hope that's not an issue, because if it is you'll just have to deal with it."

"Why would it be a problem?" Noriko muttered snarkily.

"What would everyone else prefer?" Tyson suggested quickly. "I'm fine with either."

"Well, you're gonna have to show us which ones are which either way, right?" Noriko shrugged. "Just do it here."

"Alright, then." Akira nodded decisively. "In which case….well, putting aside my room, that leaves three bedrooms. So, Akamine-san, I was wondering if you'd be alright with the master bedroom?"

"The….." I blinked at that, not expecting to be singled out straight away. "Why me?"

"I thought you might appreciate the extra space, considering." He nodded down at Shizuka, who was busily playing with Yosa, making him hop along our suitcases and Wakana's. She was oblivious to the sudden attention, so Akira shrugged and continued.

"So, would that work?"

"Ah, that doesn't really add up very well, does it?" Noriko asked. We all stared at her.

"What's that meant to mean?" Masashi asked. Noriko narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well, you two are sharing, and then you two, so that leaves us four, right? Three females, one male, to split up two rooms between us?"

Masashi spluttered at this and opened his mouth to protest, but suddenly seemed to change his mind and just shook his head. For their part, Wakana, Tyson and Hokuto all looked to each other.

"Firstly, that's less of a deal than you're making it out to be. Secondly, if it's a worry, I'll room with Tyson-kun." Hokuto said, shrugging casually.

"In any case, I do have a few spare sleeping bags, so if sharing beds isn't something anyone is comfortable with, I've left one in each room anyway."

"Sleeping bag? Like camping?" Shizuka looked up at this suddenly, Yosa paused in mid-hop as she clutched him tightly. "Can I have one?"

"How big is the room you're putting Chieko-Chan in?" Wakana blurted out before I could answer Shizuka.

"….reasonably so?" Akira was clearly confused by the question.

"Would it fit three people, maybe? Well, two and a child with a sleeping bag?" Wakana looked at me at this, and her mouth curved into a small smile. I nodded, understanding suddenly.

"Ah." Akira said simply. "Well, if that's what you want, then yes. In which case, somebody gets a room to themselves-"

"Ah, since it was mentioned, would you all mind terribly if I took that room, and have you two ladies share the other?" Tyson asked Hokuto and Noriko.

"Nah, no issue at all, right, Noriko-Chan?" Hokuto asked, grinning at her. Noriko smiled back and shook her head.

"Nope. That works for me."

Shizuka, now watching the conversation avidly, beamed happily as she appeared to realise that she would indeed be getting a sleeping bag.

"Good." Akira clapped his hands together once, looking pleased now that we had hashed that out. I had a sudden flash to one of the earliest days of Hope's Peak, the third or the fourth day, as he had stood in front of the class to announce something or other, making that exact same motion. It was very student-council-ish of him, I thought. _Once one, always one? Neither of us are what we were before, but perhaps deeper down is a different story._

 _Or you could just be over-thinking things…this is his own house, after all!_ I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck slightly. Perhaps I was just tired from the day of travelling.

"In which case, let's get ourselves sorted, then we can relax for a while. "

 **…**

We ended up congregating in Akira's kitchen when we had put down our bags in our rooms (and, where myself, Wakana and Shizuka were concerned, done a little unpacking), while Akira set about fixing drinks for everyone.

"What would you like, Shizuka?" Akira asked her. She stared at him, and then promptly went to hide behind my legs, clutching Yosa and the bag containing everyone's gift sweets to her. I laughed in amusement.

"Shizuka!" I patted her hair. I supposed it would take her a little while to get used to everyone else, so I let it go.

"She'll be fine with orange juice." I told Akira. He nodded.

"Good, good. And what about you, then? Juice? Or tea, coffee?"

"Well, I hope this isn't too strange, but if you've got any camomile tea, I'd like that." I said, after a moment's thought.

 _As she started to pour water into one of the cups, a knocking at the door interrupted Kanekatsu, and she put the kettle down to go and answer it._

" _Looks like I was right." Kimihiro said when Kanekatsu opened the door. "Not much, though."_

 _Kimihiro held up a small packet of something, and from across the room I frowned._ Biscuits….? _I remembered someone saying something about biscuits, or something to eat, while they'd bundled me over here._

" _That's fine." Kanekatsu shook her head as she took it from him. "We don't need that many. Thank you, Arata-kun."_

" _Ehe, it's no problem. Anything I can do to help in some way…." Kimihiro said as he walked across the room, close to where Kanekatsu had returned to her kettle and teacups. He turned to look at me, a pained and slightly helpless expression flitting over his face._

" _I'm sorry for your loss, Akamine-Chan."_

" _Ah…." There was something I should say here, 'thank you' or 'it's okay', or some kind of acknowledgement of his attempt at kindness. I knew that. But I couldn't seem to, the words had completely gone._

" _Thanks, Arata-Chan." Wakana spoke up for me, her hand still on my shoulder. I managed to nod once at this, and wrapped the blanket around my shoulders a little more tightly. He smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck absently, before settling back to leaning against the wall and watching Kanekatsu do whatever she was doing in complete silence._

 _After a few moments, she picked up one of the cups, and a biscuit-it looked a bit like a chocolate-chip cookie or something of that sort-and carried it over._

" _It's a touch presumptuous of me to do so, but given the circumstances, I decided to take the liberty of choosing the type of tea for you, Akamine-san."_

 _I stared, unsure what she meant. Kanekatsu closed her eyes for a moment, then clarified._

" _Camomile tea is supposed to be calming. As for this….well, it's not that long before the cafeteria opens again, but I thought you could use something to line your stomach."_

 _Numbly, I cautiously curled my hands around the cup of tea, but I just regarded the biscuit dully. My mouth still felt a bit sour, my stomach a strange, churning creature. I could not imagine eating._

" _Ah, that's good of you, Iwafusa-san. Do you have a saucer or something?" Wakana asked._

" _Ah, yes, I apolo-"_

" _I've got it, Iwafusa-Chan, don't worry." Kimihiro peeled away from the wall to get a saucer before coming over. Kanekatsu nodded at him in acknowledgement before putting the biscuit on the saucer, which Kimihiro then handed over to Wakana._

" _Chieko-Chan, I'll keep a hold of this for you for now. You drink that up, okay?"_

 _I looked over at my friend, and managed a nod, and then I turned back to look at the cup of tea in my hand. Camomile tea. Calming. I wondered if it would work._

"No, that's fine. I think I have some. Camomile's supposed to be calming, isn't it?" Akira asked as he looked in his cupboards.

"So I've heard." I said carefully. Aware of Wakana looking at me, I turned and shook my head slightly at her. _It's fine, it doesn't matter._ Though I wondered if she realised the significance. She had been there with me, but I didn't think that this meant she would necessarily latch onto the same details as I did. But even so, I wondered.

Giving me one more careful look, Wakana didn't probe, and instead turned her attentions to Shizuka, drawing her into a conversation and making her gradually comfortable enough to move away from me. I chatted with the others, and Akira busily sorted out drinks and set them on a tray, before herding us to the living room, where we found a space on the different sofas. Akira ended up on one of the armchairs, with Masashi perched on its arm, Wakana taking the other armchair, and the rest of us ending up on the three-seater (which was pretty large anyway). The drinks tray was put on the coffee table in the middle.

"Mummy?" Shizuka stage-whispered. "Can I give the things now?"

"Hmmm?" I looked over and realised what she was talking about. "Do you want me to help you?"

Shizuka shook her head vigorously, and I bit back a smile as I sipped at my tea, momentarily thinking of how strange it was I had come to like it despite the circumstances of the first time I'd ever had it.

"Well, that's fine, but if you need any help, ask me, alright?"

"Oooh, what are you talking about?" Hokuto asked curiously.

"Presents!" Shizuka announced clearly, though she blushed a little bit as she looked around everyone. "Me and Mummy got chocolates for you all. Because you're Mummy's friends."

"Oh, that's kind of you!" Noriko exclaimed, Hokuto echoing similar sentiments almost in unison.

"And I decorated cupcakes too!" Shizuka said excitedly as she pulled the chocolate boxes and the small packages we'd put the cupcakes in, and set about sorting them out according to the colours. "Shun's Mummy let me do them!"

"Andou-sempai." I half-mouthed in response to the six puzzled looks I was currently getting.

"Oh, you're still in touch with her?" Noriko asked. "Does she still do sweets like she did before?"

"Yeah, she has a little shop of her own now, on the other side of Yokohama. It's a bit far out from where we live, so it's not like I drop in frequently or anything, but even so, we do keep in touch."

"She's not Foundation anymore?" Hokuto asked, tilting her head.

"No, she and Izayoi-sempai left soon after we all returned home." Akira put in at this point. "As far as I know, I think most of the others we met are still there."

"Nii-san works with Kirigiri-sempai so I know she's still there." Masashi added. "But that's about it, really."

"I've seen some of them from time to time at the concerts." Wakana said wistfully. "Though sometimes it's hard to tell whether they're actually still members or just visi-"

"Wakana-san!" Shizuka interrupted her, holding out the marshmallow-pink chocolate box and cupcake package. "These are your ones."

"Thank you very much, Shizuka-Chan." Wakana smiled immediately and took them gratefully. "Can I eat the cupcake now?"

"Yeah!"

Smiling widely, Shizuka went back to the coffee table, and then picked up the next nearest set-the deep-purple one, and frowned at the small label I'd put on the box. I'd written everyone's names in simplified characters to make it easier for her, but it would be interesting to see how quickly she'd remembered everyone's names.

"Hokuto!" Shizuka read out. "That's….."

She frowned for a moment, then came to a decision and walked right over to her.

"Y…you're Hokuto-san, right?"

"Yup, that I most certainly am!" Hokuto smiled and ruffled Shizuka's hair.

"Here you go!" Pleased with herself, she handed over the package, and once she had been thanked, she rushed back over to the table and then went straight for the orange-wrapped ones to read the name.

"Ty…san? Oh! Ty-san! That one's _easy_!" giggling a little, she half-hopped as she made her way to Tyson and held them out to him.

"These are for you."

"Why thank you, Miss Shizuka." Tyson said as he accepted them, making Shizuka giggle even more. The process was then repeated with everyone else-lemon yellow for Noriko, neon green for Masashi and sky blue for Akira, but as she was about to come back to sit with me, Shizuka's attention was taken by the photos hanging on the wall closest to where Akira was sitting. I studied them, and realised they were family photographs.

"Who are they?" Shizuka asked, just as I'd expected her to do. She looked up at them curiously, and I wondered what she was thinking.

"That's my family." Akira told her levelly. Something clenched in my gut as Shizuka turned to him, full of wide-eyed curiosity.

"Ohhh. Why aren't they here?"

"Shizuka-"I started to say, but Akira caught my eye and shook his head firmly. Leaning forward in my seat, I watched to see what happened next. _Breathe, Chieko, breathe._

"Well…..my sister's already married, so she lives with her husband now. But my parents….they…"

Akira's calm faltered, and I could see the caution play across his face- _how best to explain death to a child?_ I'd had these same misgivings myself, even though the things I attempted to explain to Shizuka did not even scratch the surface of what there was to know.

"They aren't here anymore."

"Not here?" Shizuka tilted her head curiously and hugged Yosa closer to her while she pondered this.

"Do you mean that they are dead?"

Akira blinked once, very slowly.

"Y-yes, I do."

"Ohhhh….that's sad…." Still hugging Yosa rather tightly, Shizuka looked over to me momentarily.

"Shizuka, I think that's enough for now." I said, beckoning her over.

"I don't have a Daddy either. He died too." Shizuka blurted out suddenly, ignoring me and reaching out to pat Akira's knee consolingly.

"Ah…well…erm….."

"But that was before I was even born, so I don't know him…did you get to know your daddy?"

"Yes, yes I did."

"Ohh…." After some consideration, Shizuka patted his knee again. "Ohh….I don't know if it's more sad, or less sad then. "

"There's no such thing, Shizuka-Chan." Hokuto said, getting up and going to kneel by Shizuka. "It's still a very sad thing, to lose a parent, it doesn't matter when you lost them or how long you knew them from. The main thing is that the feeling gets better one day."

Though Hokuto had made no direct mentions, Shizuka seemed to catch onto Hokuto's meaning almost immediately.

"Did your daddy die too?" Shizuka asked tremulously. Hokuto nodded at that, and I was struck at how…at peace she seemed about it. When we'd first met all those years ago, she'd been anything but, the grief still seemingly fresh for her. _Healing is possible, then._

"Mine did too, actually, as it happens." Masashi put in. "And Nanto-tan's right about it-it's sad whenever it happens, but it does get better."

Shizuka just stared, looking from Akira to Masashi to Hokuto and back again, then she went to pat Masashi's knee, and then Hokuto's, but Hokuto pulled her into a hug just before she did.

"I'm sorry about all your daddies."

"Hnnng, you're so adorable, Shizuka-Chan."

"Yeah, what she said."

Only Akira wasn't quick to say anything, and instead he watched her. I wondered if he was really seeing Shizuka, or if he saw Koutarou's ghost, instead. Though if he did see Koutarou's ghost at all, then that was still a step up. I got through each day one at a time, struggling and continuing and fending off nightmares and trying to be brighter, but I did not see Koutarou's ghost at all, let alone in my daughter. _Mine, and his._

"Yeah….yeah, aren't we all."

Akira rubbed his forehead tiredly as he slowly said this, then smiled in a clearly forced way. Indeed, as Hokuto let Shizuka go and she finally came back to me, the mood of the room had dulled slightly, and we all looked at each other, somewhat unsure of what to do or say next. My tea had cooled, but I sipped at it carefully as I looked around at everyone and waited.

"Well…perhaps we should wait before I give around what I've got for everyone. " Tyson said eventually, letting out a long breath as he looked up from his own cup. "Perhaps in the morning, when we are a little fresher."

"Yeah! Speaking of which, it's still on the early side, but it's kinda close to dinner time. What are we going to have?" Hokuto asked.

"Ahh, but I'm curious. You could tell us a little about what you've got, at the very least, right?" Noriko jumped in.

"You said something about paintings, right?" Wakana inquired around a mouthful of cupcake. Tyson nodded.

"Yes. Over the years I've painted a lot. Of us. Our fallen classmates. It helps a lot. But the finished works, they just live in my room. I've hung up some around my flat, but the rest weren't really doing anything. I thought they might be best passed to others who'd like them, too. So I've got paintings I've done of Ueda, of Ueno, of your sister and….some others."

"You've….you've painted a picture of Daisuke-Chan?" Wakana half-whispered. I didn't blame her for seeming so shocked-even though we had been a class and we had all come out of this, the idea that someone cared enough to spend what must have been hours replicating their faces, it was more than a little breath-stealing.

"They're little more than portraits, really. But yes. "Tyson shrugged somewhat embarrassedly. "I hope that doesn't come across as a little too pretentious."

"Psh, are you f-"Masashi stopped himself mid-sentence, making a series of indecipherable spluttering noises, before continuing.

"Seriously? Of course not, mate, that sounds like a seriously cool thing to do. I guess that explains all your bags, though?"

"Yes, it does."

"It sounds like you've more than what you'd need for the rest of us, though." Noriko pointed out, frowning curiously. "What are you going to do with all of them?"

"Well…..perhaps, if it is feasible to do so, I'd like to find a way to get some to the other loved ones of our fallen, maybe while here."

"That sounds like a possibility." Akira nodded seriously at the suggestion.

"C-can we perhaps discuss this later on? Or tomorrow?" I blurted out.

"Yeah, sure, no issue, Akamine-tan." Masashi answered immediately. "Right, Akira-tan?"

"Yes, of course. Yes, that would probably be for the best, wouldn't it?" Akira caught on. "So, in any case, Nanto-san was right about it being a good time to eat. Is there anything that anyone wants in particular, that I could make?"

"Hey, no need to trouble yourself tonight! What about just getting in some takeaway?" Noriko answered almost immediately.

"Yeah, that works!" Hokuto said instantly. "Quick and easy and all, especially considering today was the journey day."

"I have no problems either way." Tyson concurred.

"Well, I'd like to cook for you all at some point during your stay anyway, but if everyone is hankering after takeaway, then we can go with that. "Akira responded.

"Why don't we all-well, at least some of us-do a little cooking while we're here?" Hokuto suggested. "It'd take the burden off of you, and then we're all doing something nice together as well."

"I don't mind that. Shizuka could get involved too, right?" I asked.

"Me?" Sitting by my feet, Shizuka looked up.

"Yes, you." I stroked her hair. She giggled at that.

"We can do that, sure." Akira agreed amiably. "But for now, what specifically does everyone want to eat?"

"I've got some takeaway places' menus on my phone, I'll look up some stuff."

Saying that, Masashi proceeded to do just that, and as we debated different food options, I found myself thinking of the past again, of another time we had talked about making food together.

" _For now, until we can find a way to get out of here, the best thing to do is to adjust to being here." Akira concluded._

" _Tsh, isn't that letting that god-fucking-damn bear win?" Masashi asked. A few others murmured similar-but more politely worded-sentiments. I looked over at Koutarou and shrugged helplessly when he met my eyes. This was still too strange-what was the right thing to do here?_

" _We're still trapped in 'ere! Why should we just…sit around?" Koutarou asked._

" _I understand that feeling. I don't want to accept this situation. But adjusting doesn't mean accepting it, does it?" Daisuke piped up at this point. "At this point, we've got little to go on, just that somebody controlling a mechanical bear has trapped us in here, blocked all access to the outside world, and wants us to kill each other. We can't just wildly rush around looking for an escape route."_

" _Ah, yeah, and if we take care of ourselves it'll probably be easier if we do have to make a mad rush out of here, right?" Wakana asked. I nodded at that._

" _That makes a certain kind of sense." I said cautiously. "So, what are you suggesting, exactly?"_

" _I was thinking of establishing some sort of routine-times of the day where we'd check in on each other, for example."_

" _To make sure that we've not all killed each other in the night, you mean?" Hironori asked flippantly. Kanekatsu glared at him._

" _To keep each other safe." Each word came out harsh and clipped._

" _That's the same thing, you optimistic moron." Hideki scoffed. "Just cos you're all on your high horse about all this, doesn't mean someone else isn't planning to kill. Fucking hell. Call yourself a forensic scientist? Hah!"_

" _My talent isn't the issue here-"Kanekatsu retorted, but Kimihiro butted in, holding his hands out in an appeasing gesture to halt the spat._

 _Aha, I don't think he really meant anything by it, Iwafusa-san. Everyone's just a bit stressed is all – try not to hold it against him, ne?"_

" _Yeah, yeah, exactly. We all know you're utterly being genuine when you say you won't kill someone, but who's to say anyone else is? That's how these things work." Erica pointed out, shrugging._

"… _.could we please get back on track?" Akira said, looking peeved. I let out a sigh of relief. Talking about establishing a routine, that was so much easier than entertaining the idea that someone would take that bear seriously._ Because this can't actually be real. Right?

" _W-what if we c-cook for each other?!" Shiro jumped in eagerly at this, gesturing over to where the kitchen._

" _I mean, we've got that big kitchen to use, and we've got to eat, right? It'll be fun doing everything together!"_

" _I can't cook…." Yashiro murmured almost inaudibly, but both Hibiki and Shiro heard it and beamed happily at her._

" _Hey, that's no issue! We'll team up! Right?" Hibiki exclaimed as she glomped Yashiro. Shiro nodded eagerly, swinging her legs as she sat on the table._

" _Yeah, we will!"_

" _Why do I have to cook for everyone?" Masashi muttered._

" _Exactly, get your own food. I'm not going behind everyone when we're all going to die anyway." Hideki muttered derisively. Masashi narrowed his eyes at him._

" _Not the reason I was going for, but I can't be fucking bothered, so whatever." He flapped his hand in a dismissing gesture, and turned back to Akira, who was absently running his hands through his hair as he looked at everyone, starting to look more than slightly exhausted._

" _Well, that's a start, wouldn't you say so, Kazama-kun?" Daisuke remarked. Slowly, Akira nodded._

" _Yes. Yes, I would. So, I won't force absolutely everyone if they don't want to, but does anyone want to set up a cooking rota?"_

" _Obviously us, Rika-Chin!" Hibiki called, letting go of a somewhat baffled Yashiro to wave unnecessarily to him. Kanekatsu nodded in agreement._

" _Count me in as well."_

" _And me too, of course. I'll do what I can to help out." Wakana said cheerfully._

" _I wouldn't mind doing some cooking myself, either. And Koutarou, too. Right?" I turned to look at him hopefully. He let out a long sigh and stretched in his seat for a moment, before he met my eyes, and his mouth quirked up in a not-quite-a-smile. And at least for the time being, something in me relaxed. Knowing that I had a friend in this whatever happened meant the world._

" _Sure thing, Moyashi."_

At that point in the memory, I made an effort to put it back in its box as we talked about food. After the discussion from moments ago, I was not sure I could keep thinking along those lines and keep a straight face in front of Shizuka, who was avidly listening to the debate about the pros and cons of different takeaways.

"Hey, De Guerre-Chan."

As we somehow came to the decision to order pizza, I was surprised by Wakana getting up and going to get Tyson's attention. He turned to her curiously.

"What is it, Wakana, Ma'am?"

"That painting….the one you have of Daisuke-Chan?" her voice was soft enough that I almost couldn't hear it.

"Could….could I have it tonight? Instead of tomorrow?"

Tyson blinked, but regained composure quickly.

"Yes, of course! I'll bring it over to you before I go to bed, then?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Suddenly, Wakana looked over to me, and I tried to pretend I hadn't noticed anything.

"Hey, Chieko-Chan, you've not chosen anything?"

"Ah, I don't mind really, I don't have any particular preferences for pizza toppings."

"Ehh, really, you sure?"

"Are you sure, Akamine-san?" Akira asked as he scribbled down preferences on a piece of paper he'd gotten from somewhere.

"I'm fine with whatever, really." I reassured. In all truth and honesty, listening to Masashi and Noriko argue about the concept of pineapples on pizza made me decide that this was a topic to stay out of. Even if they were being quite entertaining with it.

"Well, if you're sure…." Akira said. "In any case, if that's everything, then I'll go give them a call now."

Akira got up slowly, and walked over to his house phone, and dialled the number for the pizza place. When the call was answered, we all became quieter (Masashi and Noriko included, thankfully).

"Mummy, why are we all quiet?" Shizuka asked me.

"Akira-san's on the phone." I explained. "He's ordering the pizza for everyone."

"Oh….will it come quickly?"

"I don't know, but it might take a little while. Are you hungry?"

"Hmm….a little bit. " Shizuka's face creased as she pondered.

"You've not drunk any of your juice yet, so have some of that while you're waiting." I said, waiting carefully for her response. If she complained of being very hungry, then I'd ask Akira if he had anything to tide her over.

She frowned for a moment, and looked over at her glass of orange juice still on the tray, before then reaching out for it. But since she was still holding Yosa in one hand, she soon seemed to realise that wasn't going to work. Glaring at the orange juice, and then looking down at Yosa, she seemed puzzled for a moment, before she proceeded to settle Yosa very carefully on her lap and then grabbing the glass with both hands, and proceeding to sip from it, now satisfied. I smiled to myself at the sight.

"She's quite the kid." I looked over at Masashi, who'd got up from where he was sitting and come over.

"I'm glad she likes the frog." He continued.

"I think she's gone beyond liking-that one's going to be her favourite for a good while, I can tell. " I chuckled wryly as Shizuka carefully 'fed' some juice to Yosa and then continued drinking it herself.

"Do I get some of the glory for that status?"

"Well, of course."

"Right, that shouldn't take more than an hour." Akira said as he came back over. "Is everyone okay with that?"

"Shizuka?" I checked. She looked back up at me.

"I can wait."

"You sure?" I checked. She nodded vigorously.

"Alright then, what about everyone else?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hokuto said.

"I'm able to wait, too." Tyson added.

"Yeah." Masashi shrugged. "I think we're all okay, mate."

"That's good, then." Akira went back to sit down, and Masashi followed.

We passed the time talking about other things, small talk about the lives we were living. Where their different businesses were concerned, Hokuto and Tyson had stories about unusual or interesting customers, and Masashi regaled us all with some of the strange things that had happened on the routes he drove around. Wakana talked about some of the sights she had seen when travelling for various concerts, and the rest of us just sort of filled in wherever-though they did all seem interested in my university life, since with the exception of Noriko, the others had all pretty much gone straight into working in one way or another.

Shizuka was content to play with Yosa for the most part, but she still listened avidly and would sometimes butt in with curious questions that made us all laugh. Which was fine with me. I'd much rather she heard the things like this than anything else, for as long as possible.

 _At least for the rest of tonight. Please don't let anything come up for the rest of the night…_

When the doorbell rang, Akira got up to answer it. Shizuka stared after him curiously, then she got up and tentatively took a few steps forward before pausing, considering, and then scurrying over to peer around the door to watch what Akira was doing. I heard Akira and the delivery person make some very small small-talk as he took the pizzas and then paid, explaining how he had some guests over and other such things. It was once the delivery person had gone that Akira noticed Shizuka.

"Hello, Shizuka. Would you like to help me carry these in?"

"Hmm….okay. Oh, hold on!" Shizuka turned away from the door, and came rushing over to me.

"Mummy, hold Yosa _carefully_ for me, okay?"

She pressed Yosa into my hands, and before I could say anything, she had gone away again, this time leaving the living room. A couple of moments later, Akira called out.

"Let's go into the dining room to eat, alright?"

"Yeah, sure!" Hokuto said instantly, getting up. Tyson put all our cups and glasses back onto the tray and picked it up to carry it along as we all went in.

Shizuka was helping Akira to lay everything out on the table, and she was almost drooling at the smells coming from the pizza.

"Okay, so do you all want plates, or are you alright with using the pizza box lids?"

"Plates for takeaway pizza? Seriously?" Masashi retorted.

"I think box lids will take up more space though, especially with the side of the boxes that everything is in already." I pointed out.

"Yeah, exactly! So there!" Noriko stuck her tongue out in a childish gesture, and Masashi glowered at her.

"Pffft." Was all he had to say in the end.

"Alright, plates it is." Akira decided brightly. "Oh, and thanks, Tyson-san, for bringing that back in."

"Not a problem." Tyson replied. "So, where's everyone sitting?"

We debated over that as Tyson put the glasses down, Shizuka continued to help Akira with the rest of the table-laying, and soon we were all sitting around the table together, ready at last.

* * *

 **I know you get slow-burn romance, but do people describe things as slow-burn drama? Because I think this fic closely fits that sort of label.**

 **Anyway, this is isn't really a two-parter for any special reason apart from 'this made the most sense while writing'. And this one wasn't particularly eventful either...but still, I think here you start to get a hint of something else that could be happening during their time together, not to mention flashbacks! I've mentioned a few more names of as-yet-unintroduced characters, and I'm hoping in the next few chapters I'll be able to find a way to give them their proper introductions.**

 **In the meantime, there's an idea I'm rolling around in my head, for a different kind of special chapter. I know I already have the 'Scraps of the Past' chapters, but this would be in addition to that. What these ones would consist of are a long-ish scene/collection of small scenes surrounding the moment one of the killer characters killed their victim (either immediately before or immediately after, possibly both in one chapter), from the POV of the killer. They wouldn't necessarily be in order of the deaths-I was thinking of having these mirror the main story in a sense, so after I feel like there have been sufficient flashbacks and references to a particular killing/trial, then the chapter concerning the killer from that trial would be the one that comes straight after. So if I did do this, the chapter around Koutarou is the one most likely to come first, though I'd imagine it's fairly evident he wasn't the first killer. I even have a tentative naming system for these chapters- 'Killing Moments: [Character Name]' (so for example: Killing Moments: Koutarou Ueda). As for the lengths of these chapters, that will probably vary wildly, and there will be (somewhat obviously) less of these chapters than there would be 'Scraps of the Past' chapters.**

 **So then, what do you think of that idea? Is that something you'd like me to incorporate into this, or not? If you have any opinion in this, drop it into the review! And as always, hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	9. Scraps of the Past 2

**With two of my assignments finished and submitted (one of them being the biggest of all the assignments by far), I figured that I had the time to edit the next Scraps of the Past chapter and upload it, so here it is! The next actual chapter is almost halfway done, and I still do have three more assignments to finish, so that'll probably take a couple of weeks to come out =P Hopefully you'll enjoy this in the meantime**

* * *

Chisa Yukizome was in a good mood as she put her things together and prepared to head off home. All in all, the day had started reasonably and ended wonderfully, and she considered that a good day's work done. Of course, it was just the beginning, but that didn't stop her from almost floating as she left the staffroom.

"See you later, Kizakura-san, Akasaka-san, Harada-san!" she called out to the teachers who were there.

"Take care, Chisa-Chan!" Kizakura winked and nodded at her as the other teachers said farewell in return. She grinned at them again, and continued walking out and back down to the building's entrance, still almost ready to float.

She passed a few students going to and from different parts of the building, and spotted two of her own students walking in the other direction along the corridor. One of them was carrying a pile of book- that she seemed to have no trouble with despite her skinny frame- with a map balanced on top, which her companion was peering at curiously through her white round-framed glasses as they walked.

"Iwafusa-san, Edano-san, if you were wanting to explore the science labs, they're over that way." Chisa said, pointing out the direction "I think some of the seniors are in there as well, and they'll show you the ropes if need be. Do you want me to take you two there?"

The two stopped in their tracks and stared at her. Noriko grinned, whereas Kanekatsu seemed to quietly consider the offer for a moment, before shaking her head and smiling politely

"I appreciate the offer, but I believe we should be able to find our own way to the laboratories." Kanekatsu replied. "But regardless, thank you."

"Yeah, we'll be fine. But thanks, sensei!" Noriko chimed in, still grinning.

"No problem! I'll see you in class at the same time tomorrow, won't I?"

"Of course, Yukizome-sensei." Kanekatsu nodded.

"Bye-bye! See you tomorrow!" Noriko called out as they turned away and continued onwards, the sound of Kanekatsu's ballet flats a more measured sound against the sound of Noriko's more energetic footsteps, even as they gradually faded away.

 _Ah, what good kids._ Chisa grinned, and made her way out of the building.

Under the April sun, students were going in all sorts of directions-some straight out of the school, others to the on-campus accommodation or to other departments for extra-curricular or socialising. She could spot a few of her class amongst them, though given that she'd had them for one day, she was mostly able to spot them by the fact that they were the ones who hadn't yet received their uniform.  
Chieko had naturally zoned in on some of Hope's Peak's many flowerbeds, and somewhat unsurprisingly Koutarou was by her side too, though she was mostly talking to Masashi and the Kazama twins, gesturing enthusiastically while explaining something. Slightly further away, she could see Hokuto chatting with Wakana, Daisuke and Erica, who were apparently doing little more than just meandering. _Ah, they're_ all _good kids._ They were all too far off for Chisa to call out to them, so she decided to leave it, and continued on her way.

Some students from Hope Valley High across the road were also leaving their building, and on an impulse Chisa looked for the frail girl with the massive smile she'd seen on her bus when arriving that morning, but she didn't see her, and some of the Hope Valley High students who were there gave her curious looks, so she quickly turned away and quickened her stride on her way to the bus stop. Given the friction between the two schools, it was probably best not to get embroiled with something-especially not on her first day as a proper homeroom teacher.

Though she wished that the hostility didn't have to be there-after all, when she'd been assistant homeroom teacher to the 74th Class, Chiaki had befriended a Hope Valley High student, who had freely hung out with her and the rest of the class whenever he could, and from what she knew, this student kept in touch with the rest of the class even now, a fact that was helped by the fact he and Chiaki had married. So it wasn't as if it was impossible for the two schools to get on. _Maybe something similar will happen with this class. I can't force it though-if it happens, it happens._

As she got to the bus stop, her mobile rang, and she pulled it out of her handbag and glanced at the screen, beaming to herself as she answered it.

"Kyosuke!"

"Yeah, Yukizome."

"Geez," Chisa pouted mushroom-spoutingly. "It's 'Chisa', to you! We're _married_."

"I'm sorry, it's still a habit."

"Meh, probably my fault for deciding to keep my surname, but oh well. But you definitely _have_ to call me 'Chisa' next time, alright?"

"I will, I promise."

"But anyway," Chisa shook off her minor annoyance as she leaned against the wall. "What's up, Kyosuke? How's the surveying going?"

"It's not going too badly, actually." He replied, before going on to give a brief description of what they had done in the past few hours. Though of course he couldn't see her over the phone, she nodded and mm-hmmed a few times while listening.

"So at the moment, it's looking like it will be a good idea to build an overseas branch here, but we're still pretty much in the preliminary stages." Kyosuke concluded.

"Ah, I see. Well," Chisa paused as the bus arrived, and didn't say anything for a few moments as she got on and found a seat.

"Well," she started again. "Isn't there the option to perhaps buy Hope Valley, and make them an extension of Hope's Peak? I've heard talk about that, too."

"Yes, that's true. I'm going to be starting a proper inquiry into that route when I'm back in any case. I think that one might be a little more controversial though."

"Well, the place needs renovations and extra resources, doesn't it? The students there could benefit from that-and just because they're not Talenteds doesn't make them any less important as a part of the next generation. It'd be the better option."

"I'm inclined to agree with you, but it's not my decision, unfortunately."

"Well, it _should_ be!" Chisa huffed in annoyance. _Hope's Peak politics are maddening sometimes._

"In any case, I really wanted to ask about you. This is your first day as a proper homeroom teacher, after all. How did it go with the new class?"

Chisa beamed at that.

" . _wonderful_!" she exclaimed. "They're a very interesting class-you know that this cycle's SHSL Student Council President is in this new class, don't you?"

"I'm aware." Kyosuke answered. "Kazama-kun, was it?"

"Akira Kazama-kun, yes. His twin sister got accepted this year too. Hibiki Kazama-san. Kazama-kun is the qu-"

Chisa stopped abruptly, and turned to look through the window. They had stopped in a short line of traffic, and they were outside a line of shops. Nothing seemed amiss, but even so.

"Hello?"

"Ah, sorry, I was thinking about the class!" Chisa laughed to cover up her discomfort. "But anyway, they look quite similar for fraternal twins, but Kazama-kun's _definitely_ the quieter twin, as I said, and he's a bit like you really-has the whole stoic thing going on too, but he's not so confident with tons of attention like you are. So I guess he's an unpolished version of you. But he's a good kid overall anyway. His sister is too, but she's very different….."

Chisa continued chatting lightly to Kyosuke, telling him about the different traits and quirks she'd noticed in each of her students so far, describing how most of them had actually turned up to class on this first day and it had only taken her until lunchtime to hunt down the rest and explaining what had happened across the rest of the day, and just generally how pleased she was about it all.

But though talking about it just made her feel overwhelmingly happy all over again, she found herself looking around carefully, nervously, trying to see if there was anything unusual in the area that could have sparked the sudden sense she was getting. But there was nothing she could discern.

 _Weird._

When the announcement for her stop came on, she swung her bag back onto her shoulder, and got up and went to the door, still talking to Kyosuke on the phone as she looked around. When the bus stopped and the door opened, she practically leapt out as she made her way down the street, towards their house.

"So yep, that's how my day went!" Chisa concluded cheerfully when she finally got to her front gate. Opening it, she walked up the short path, and then fumbled for her keys.

"I see." Kyosuke replied. "It sounds like you've bonded with your class already."

"Well, I've _started_ to. It's early days yet!"

"Regardless, it sounds as if you're doing well. I'm looking forward to meeting them when I come back."

"You'd better be!" Chisa exclaimed. "They're going to be amazing, I just know it. But anyway, I'm home now, so I'd better go. I'll talk to you later, Kyosuke."

"See you later, Yukizome."

 _Seriously?_ Chisa face-palmed with her free hand as she hung up, then put her phone in her pocket, before standing there for a moment. Her neck still felt a little prickly, so she turned in a slow circle, holding her keys between her fingers as a makeshift weapon. But there was nothing there, and so she started to feel a little more than a little silly. Sighing, she relaxed her stance and used the keys for their original purpose, and stepped into the house. The feeling that she was being watched didn't go away, but as she locked the door and went to put her lunch things away, she tried to shake it off.

 _After all, it can't be anything like that._

* * *

 **It occurred to me while watching a part of an Ultra Despair Girls play through that what Towa City is in this AU is very different to what it is in canon, so just to clarify- in this story, Towa City is just the part of Japan where Hope's Peak is located.**

 **Also, as a bit of random trivia about the world of this story-the bit of this chapter where I say that Chisa 'pouts mushroom-spoutingly' is essentially making a metaphor of that thing about Dangan Ronpa where characters seem to literally sprout mushrooms when they're sad/depressed. In this universe, they don't literally do that, but the idea of having a mushroom-spouting kind of sadness, or being in a mushroom-y mood are basically local Towa City expressions that one way or another, you will end up picking up and using if you live in the area long enough.  
Mushroom moods would usually refer to the type of sadness or disappointment in more trivial situations, such as here where Chisa is scolding Munakata for not using her first name, or if you're pretending to be sad-not in the sense of deception, but sort of just like giving puppy eyes at someone when you want something, or if you're exaggerating your disappointment at something. They are expressions that have been around for generations and by this point nobody is entirely sure where it came from anymore (though I'd imagine that there would be no shortage of lexicologists/linguists/etymologists etc. trying to track down the origins).  
So basically, the point of me explaining all that is that you'll probably see me using descriptions like that in dialogue and narration at various points. **

**Anyway, yeah, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully it won't take me _too_ long to get the next proper chapter up =D**


	10. First Night, part 2

_Wakana_

The game I was playing with Shizuka got interrupted when Hokuto poked her head around the room door.

"Hey, guys, the bathroom's free now."

"Thanks, Ho-Chi." Chieko said to her as she put away the last of her things and hefted her suitcase off the bed and into the furthest corner of the room. Hokuto grinned and disappeared again.

"Do you want to go first, Wakana-Chan?" Chieko turned to me. I considered, and my eyes drifted over to the flat brown parcel that Tyson had discreetly given to me just a few moments before. The painting of Daisuke.

"No, you go first?"

"You sure? We'll probably take a little while."

"Yeah, I know." When Chieko continued to look doubtful, I found it in me to pull a face. "Tomorrow night, I'll go first."

"Okay then. Shizuka, get your night things together."

"Okay!" springing up, Shizuka gathered up the small pile that Chieko had pulled together on the bed-night clothes, towel and toothbrush. And, of course, Yosa. Noting this, Chieko sighed and shook her head.

"You can't bring Yosa in with you, she'll get wet, won't she?"

"Mummy, Yosa's a _boy_." Shizuka protested, only hugging Yosa closer to her in response.

"Hey, Yosa will be safe on your sleeping bag. And you don't want to get her wet, right?" I asked quickly.

Looking at me in surprise, Shizuka considered this, and eventually acquiesced, and went to put Yosa down carefully on the sleeping bag. Then, she took a moment to rearrange the small amount of soft toys around the frog, and then frowning before she re-gathered up her things for the bathroom and followed Chieko out of the room.

I waited a beat or two after this, and then I got up from the floor and then went to get the painting and sat heavily on the edge of the bed, contemplating the size of it and the feel of the wrapping. Wrapped carefully in brown parcel paper, each fold sharp and neat as a professional wrapper (if there was such a thing) had done it, it seemed to be roughly A3 size, possibly slightly smaller. As I carefully started to peel it away, I noticed in one of the corners that in a precise, lightly pencilled font, Tyson had written 'Daisuke Ueno, for Wakana Abe' in English, and for some reason that made me smile as I continued unwrapping. Inevitably, the paper was so neatly done there didn't seem to be a way of getting it undone without ripping it, so I gave up on that idea, and once the paper was off and in a haphazard pile on the bed, I held the painting out and looked at it.

It was a simple painting, just a portrait that showed the head and a little bit past his shoulders. It looked like Tyson had taken inspiration from a programme photograph similar to the one on the notice outside Ueno Hall, but rather than painting Daisuke in one of the shirts that he'd have worn for such a thing, Tyson had opted for the tuxedo and jacket that he would have worn for conducting at concerts. The expression on his face was contemplative, as if listening to someone in front of him asking him for advice, as if he was thinking of the possible solutions already. It made me think of past concerts, sitting backstage before we were due to perform, chatting and exchanging ideas, of how there would inevitably be a nervous player who needed to be counselled or calmed during those moments, or how sometimes we were the nervous ones who needed to reassure each other. Of doing something similar afterwards, having become part of the audience now we were done, dissecting our performance and how it had gone.

In other words, if I had been a painter, this would have been a picture I'd have painted.

 _How…?_ It was a silly question, in a way. Tyson knew Daisuke too, and he painted. And he grieved. It wasn't that difficult to map out the answers as to how he had made the painting. But there was something else there, too. _Envy._ Why hadn't I been able to do something like this? As childish as it seemed, Daisuke had been my best friend. It should have been me to do something like this.

 _But I have. The Songbirds' Lament._

It was not as if I could do absolutely everything, after all. And we were still doing the same thing-remembering. I remembered using my music, he remembered through art. Even if I could lay claim to a particular kind of grief in all this, I couldn't do the same to the memories we all shared. That was why we shared them, after all. Not to mention, it was reassuring in a way, to see evidence that others remembered. _That I'm not the only one._

 _Isn't that why I'm here, after all?_

I brought the painting closer to me, resting the bottom of the frame on top of my knees, and smiled wistfully. Even if right now I was not entirely sure of what I felt about it, the painting was beautiful. And I was glad that Tyson had done this for me, and for us. _I'll treasure this._ I already knew where I'd be putting it once I got home-there was a place on the wall of my studio where I just knew it would look perfect.

I got up and went over to where my suitcase was, and opened it again, and looked through one of the zipped pockets until I found some reusable plastic bags, then I carefully slid the painting into the largest one before wrapping the others around it for extra padding. _Ah, if only I hadn't ripped the paper,_ I thought drily as I did this. Once I was satisfied with how I'd wrapped the painting, I made sure it was carefully stored in the bottom of my suitcase before zipping it up again.

I'd just taken the brown paper and thrown it in the small bin in the other corner of the room when Chieko and Shizuka came back from the bathroom, all clean and changed.

"Wakana-san, you can go now!" Shizuka told me cheerily, heading straight for her sleeping bag and wriggling into it enthusiastically. I smiled at her fondly.

"Thanks, Shizuka-Chan."

"You okay, Wakana-Chan?" Chieko asked me as I gathered my bathroom things together.

"Yeah, sure. Why?"

"Oh, nothing in particular." She shrugged, but I saw her eyes wander to the bin, and I pulled a face.

"I'm fine, really."

"Well then, okay." Chieko puffed out a breath. "See you in a bit."

"Yep, sure."

And as I headed to the bathroom, I found myself wondering what Chieko would feel when she received her own painting.

 **…**

 _Noriko_

"Hey, can I close the window, Noriko-Chan?"

I looked up from the bed, where I was listening to music while texting my family and Sachiko, and pulled out one of my earphones to look at Hokuto, who had apparently finished sorting out her own luggage.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The window." Hokuto pointed. "Can I close it? I don't want it to get colder in here in the night, you know?"

"A-ah, erm…" I blinked, not quite processing the words for a moment before I then did and my breath started to quicken. _No, no, no…_

"Can we leave the door open then, in that case?" I asked in a hurry, deliberately injecting a note of cheeriness into my voice, not wanting this to become a bigger deal. Hokuto's forehead creased in confusion.

"Just a little bit?" I shrugged and smiled sheepishly. Hokuto didn't seem to become any less confused, but grinned back.

"Sure thing." She went to close the window, and thankfully went to open the room door slightly, and just like that I was able to breathe again. _Thank goodness, I'm not trapped._

"We should find something to use as a doorstop. Maybe a book or something?"

"A book?" I asked, making a mock-horrified face. Hokuto laughed at that.

"Or, I dunno, a shoe or something like that?"

"Somehow, that's even worse than a book." I deadpanned. "But sure, that's a good idea."

"I know, I'm just full of them, aren't I?" Hokuto grinned, teasingly. "So anyway, what are you listening to?"

I looked down at my phone and realised that the song had changed during our exchange.

"It's one of Heero's tracks-Paperweight. " On an impulse, I held out the other earphone to Hokuto. "Wanna listen?"

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Grinning, Hokuto bounced onto the bed and shifted so she was sitting cross-legged on top of the covers, and took the earphone I was offering her. A few seconds passed in silence as Hokuto considered the song.

"Hey, this is Usami-Chan, isn't it? Doing the singing, I mean?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Oh, wow. Oh yeah, they did a few things together, didn't they, Arata-kun and Usami-Chan? Collaboration things."

"Apparently so, yeah." I nodded. "I don't know if Arata-kun collaborated with any of her siblings though-I'm pretty sure he did, but I don't remember what information I came across to know that."

Thinking about that, I made a note to myself to look that up again at some point before August was over and it became September, which was Daisuke's month.

"Oh man," Hokuto was laughing. "Do you remember how confused we all were, the first time we saw her with her sibs?"

Thinking about that, I had to laugh too.

" _Oh, yay, most of them are still here!"_

" _Who is she talking to?" Hokuto stage-whispered to me. I shrugged, and swallowed my mouthful of food quickly as I watched Shiro beckon wildly to someone who was outside the classroom door. A few seconds later, not one, not two or three, but four other people walked in through the door. Two girls, two boys. I could tell they were seniors, as they all had their school uniform, though all of them were being pretty creative with it to various extents anyway._

 _But what was weird was how similar they looked to Shiro. Black hair, round blue eyes, similar features-they resembled each other strongly, even with the other notable physical differences._

" _Hey, Usami-tan, why're there five of you!?" Masashi called out from where he was sitting eating lunch with the Kazama twins, Wakana and Daisuke._

"… _." One of the boys, the one who seemed to stick the most closely to the school uniform, seemed somewhat nonplussed at that comment. But Shiro just giggled and shook her head at that, making her ponytail shake about and almost threaten to break free from the pink ribbon it was being held in._

" _They're not_ me _, silly, they're my siblings!" she almost sang as she pointed to each one in turn. "Ichiro, Yujiko, Zenzo, and Goromi-in that order. I'm number three!"_

 _And then, something clicked for me._

" _Ohhh!" I exclaimed. "Are you guys quintuplets, by any chance?"_

"Yep, I remember that. That was-"I stopped, abruptly.

"It was what?" Hokuto asked.

"A good memory. I'm glad we have that one." I said hurriedly. _Phew._ I had been about to say _that was one I gave to Chiko to include in the book_ , and that would not have been good. Not now, when they had no idea that there would be a book in the first place.

 _But they'll need to know, won't they?_

Perhaps we could just wait until it was nearly finished, almost ready to be published, but would that be fair to them all? It would be like springing it onto them unannounced, practically, and that would hardly be fair. Yet at the same time, I didn't want to know if they didn't want this-because I needed this. I needed it, for so many reasons.

But everything that had happened-it hadn't just happened to me, I'd known that even when I'd told Sachiko that she could write about us. Even then, I knew that the decision shouldn't just be mine. But, I needed this so much, for so many reasons. I needed this.

 _Don't think about that for now._

"Do you have other songs that she featured in on here?" Hokuto asked me, changing the subject and thankfully forcing me to abandon that line of thinking for the moment.

"Hmm, I probably do, but this is a Heero playlist, so any time she appears on here is a collaboration with him."

"Oh, right. Are you're not a fan of Akise, then, or any of the other stuff she did with her sibs?"

"No, it's not like that. It's not January, it's August, so I'm not really listening on Usami-san's Akise stuff right now."

Hokuto gave me a funny look.

"Is this the months thing that you do?"

"Yeah, it is." I confirmed, pulling a face.

"Riiight, okay." Hokuto shrugged at that. "So, what, you've got every single song?"

"Yeah, even the ones his friends released afterwards." I said. "Here, look, I'll show you."

I picked up my phone and unlocked the screen, and went to my playlist and scrolled through to point out the different songs to Hokuto, and we spent some time picking some and listening to them to see which ones we knew or remembered from before, and which had come later on.

 **…**

 _Tyson_

I did not want to sleep.

I didn't want to sleep, because the nightmares would come, and then inevitably, I would wake up screaming. I was used to that, but I didn't want to, because then the others would hear, and I knew from experience that screaming nightmares had a habit of driving people away. Or at least, helping to drive people away.

I didn't want that to happen here.

I had sleeping pills with me, and they at least allowed me to remain asleep during the nightmares. But my head tended to feel all foggy when I woke up after using them, and that was not a feeling I liked. That, and I usually saved them for last resorts, for when the nightmares were too bad to just suck up and bear. And it was surely too early to call them a last resort now, when our time together had only just started. So I was hesitant to use them.

I yawned as I turned another page of the book. I had almost finished reading it now, and my eyes were getting heavy, but still I did not get up to put the book away, to turn of the light. _Ahh, at least I'm on my own in this room._ Then at least I wasn't disturbing someone by staying awake-it was good to not be stuck in that kind of double bind. _But I still don't want to sleep…._

Yawning again, I put the book face down on my lap, and looked around. The walls were papered in flowery wallpaper, the flowers curling in and out of each other on twisty vines against a white background. This, apparently, had been the room of Akira's older sister Yasu, now his only surviving family member, who had since married and moved up to the north of the country. I wondered if Akira had encouraged her to move, to not feel bound to him just because he was a sibling and he was hurting, or if Yasu had been all too eager to move away and forge a life away from tragedy-for by extension, she had lost too, after all. _Oh, does it even matter?_ I rubbed my head tiredly. I'd never met Yasu, I had no idea what she was like to know these things, and it wasn't my place to know either. And yet, I wondered anyway.

… _.if I let myself go to sleep tonight, what will I dream of?_

Musing about Akira and his sister had been enough to distract me from that question, but of course, in the end, my mind wandered back around to it. What would I dream of, if I let myself? The different executions that we had to see? Every time we happened upon another fallen classmate? The investigations and trials? Those moments when we had been running, running, running towards the exit while the building started to crumble around us? Those scary moments when we believed that the world waiting for us outside was an ended world, when we didn't know better to realise otherwise? There were far too many possibilities, and my mind had replayed all of them in my dreams over the seven years. But as I turned the book back over again, and tried to read it, my eyelids started to droop, and I knew I had to sleep.

 _Of course you need to sleep, you silly goose._ I'd flown halfway across the world, after all. _There's no avoiding it._ Sighing, I took the bookmark from where I kept it inside the cover jacket, slipped it in the pages of the book, snapped it shut-wincing for a moment as I did so, thinking of Oshiro's execution-and set it on my bedside table before pushing aside the bedcovers and getting up to switch off the light.

On my way, I passed the chest of drawers, where I'd put my bottle of sleeping pills, and I paused to consider them. I picked up the bottle, rattled it gently, turned it upside down, and studied the way the pills looked in the bottle. Then, carefully, deliberately, I put the bottle back down again, and continued on my way to turn off the light.

When I reached my bed again, I hesitated for a moment before climbing back in, pulling the covers back over myself, and closing my eyes. I still did not want to sleep, but sleep I would.

 **…**

 _Akira_

I wasn't sure if I was entirely awake or not when I heard it, that low, muffled keening, but hearing it caught my attention. _Am I hearing things?_ I had been thinking of the past, of Chieko's cries back when Koutarou had been revealed as Hibiki's killer, and for a weird, strange moment, the memory and the sound merged and became the same.

" _W-wait, what do you mean?" Chieko stuttered out. "You're saying…Koutarou…?"_

 _She looked over anxiously at him, but he didn't seem to want to look at her, which clinched it for me. Nothing had been confirmed, but somehow, I knew it._

" _Well, it is kinda leaning that way, isn't it?" Hokuto shrugged._

" _But…Koutarou was with me, when Kazama-kun came to ask if we'd seen Hibiki-Chan or not!" Chieko pointed out._

" _Yes, your statement does say that, but he only came to join us like what, fifteen, twenty minutes? Wait, I'll check!" Erica pulled her notebook out of her pocket and flicked through the pages._

" _Yeah, okay, Hibiki-san reportedly died at 9:05, then Ueda-san came by to hang out with us just after 9:35, and he was eating that sandwich. It was 9:45, when we were getting ready to leave for bed, that Akira-san came to ask if we'd seen Hibiki-san."_

" _But what does that have to do with anything? Koutarou was planning on going to go to bed well before Night Time in the first place, remember? If he'd done that, he wouldn't even have an alibi!"_

" _Technically speaking, he still doesn't have an alibi now." Kanekatsu spoke up. "If he had decided to join you all on an impulse after making his snack, then it would have taken him far less time to join you all. So can you account for where he was in that time?"_

" _W-well, I don't know!" Chieko shook her head in frustration. "Just because we're….because we're….we're not in each other's pockets, is what I'm saying. But that doesn't mean anything anyway! Koutarou didn't do it!"_

 _Her cheeks had become flushed as she had said this, and as soon as she finished, she looked down at the ground somewhat awkwardly, as if perhaps she didn't believe her own words. But quickly, she seemed to collect herself and looked up again, her red eyes resolute._

" _He didn't do it, okay? I just know it!"_

 _Koutarou gave her a sideways look, but neither confirmed or denied what she was saying. And I wondered just how she was able to deny things so easily, when it was all becoming too apparent._ How could she?

" _But your own statements place Hibiki as being in the same place as him, at the same time!" I pointed out in annoyance. "Think about it!"_

Rubbing my eyes, I listened more closely. _No, wait, they're not._ These anguished shouts were utterly wordless, and a little more distant, in the next room over, or possibly the one after that. So, carefully so that I didn't disturb Masashi, I sat up to get a better sense of the sound. It continued on, and eventually, I decided to get up, and I padded carefully out of the room.

The moment I stepped back out on the landing, the sounds seemed to quieten suddenly, accompanied by great gulping breaths, as if trying to get the sound out of control. Figuring out where it came from, I quickly strode over to Yasu's room, where Tyson was sleeping, and knocked once on the door, quietly.

I wasn't sure if he had heard me at first, but then, after a few gulping breaths and a small stretch of silence, there was an answer.

"Yes?"

"Uhm…..It's Akira. Are you alright?" I asked simply, aware of how inadequate and awkward my words sounded. There was another pause.

"Did I wake you?"

"No, no. But are you alright?"

Again, another pause, and complete silence. It was only broken by the sound of a creaking door, but that came from behind me, and I turned around to see Wakana cautiously peering around the door of the master bedroom. When she spotted me, she moved away and walked quietly to join me, absently flattening out the creases in her nightshirt as she did so.

"I-I'm fine, thank you. Sorry for troubling you, Kazama, sir."

"Are you sure?" I wasn't sure what I could do, exactly, but I didn't feel it was right to just say 'oh, alright then' and go back to bed as if nothing was wrong. Tyson sighed audibly.

"I'm sure. Thank you for your concern." The words were stiff, formal, a throwback to the past.

"Do you want a glass of milk, or something? I can get it for you." I persisted. _Let me do something this time._

"I'll be fine, thank you."

I was about to say something else, but I saw Wakana shake her head out of the corner of my eye, and so I backtracked.

"Well, if you do need to at some other point, you can go to the kitchen yourself and get one, I'm perfectly fine with that. Try and get some sleep now."

"I will, Kazama, sir."

Sighing, I turned away, and rubbed my face, then turned to look at Wakana, who was still watching curiously, gaze darting from me to the door and back again before settling levelly on me.

"Are _you_ alright? Were you woken up?" I inquired.

Wakana shook her head and shrugged helplessly.

"No, no I was awake." She shrugged again. "Sleep….isn't something that comes so easily to me anyway. So...yeah."

"Ah." We stood there for a moment, not sure what to say.

"Hey, perhaps I could trouble you for a glass of milk, instead?" Wakana hesitantly asked. And somehow, despite myself, I smiled widely.

"Oh, that's no trouble at all."

 **…**

We sat at the dining room table, carefully sipping at the milk, since I'd gone overboard and poured right up to the top in both our glasses after I had warmed it up a little. I suspected I'd have to buy milk again in a couple of days' time, and I wondered who would come with me if and when I did. Did people usually make shopping trips with friends for such mundane things like milk?

"So," Wakana sighed softly after we'd spent some time in near-silence. "That's what a nightmare sounds like."

"Hmmm." I replied, not entirely sure what she meant by that.

"I didn't realise that nightmares made a sound that could be heard by others." She studied her milk intently. "I thought that they just resounded in your head, clanging around painfully. A private cacophony, you know?"

She tapped the side of her head with a finger as she said this last part, and slowly lifted her head to look at me. I returned her gaze.

"I…I think I do." I ventured cautiously.

"I don't think that De Guerre-Chan's actually alright, is he?"

"Yeah, I doubt it. I probably should have pushed harder, but that wouldn't have…"

"…..been the best approach to take?" Wakana finished for me, flashing a brief, rueful smile.

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh." Wakana nodded. I didn't know what to say to that, so I just sipped carefully at my milk until it was at a much lower level and I was able to drink it more easily. Slipping back into silence, we said nothing else for the rest of the time, until we had both finished every last drop, but there was nothing strange or weird about it.

"Here, I'll wash them." I held out my hand for Wakana's glass as I got up, but she refused, and instead, in an unexpected move, she reached over to pull mine out of my grasp.

"I'll wash them." She said simply, and went straight to do so before I could say anything. _Huh._ It wasn't the best thing to pick a battle about in the middle of the night, so I let it go, and waited for her to finish-which naturally did not take very long-before we walked back upstairs.

"Well, try and get some sleep now." I echoed the words I had said to Tyson just moments earlier. Wakana raised a tired eyebrow at me.

"Same to you and….well, goodnight."

"Good night."

Wakana disappeared back into the master bedroom, and I headed back to mine. As I climbed back into bed, I noticed that Masashi was still fast asleep and completely oblivious to the world, looking almost peaceful. _But perhaps his nightmares are just making a private cacophony, instead._ There was no way to know, so I laid back down again, closed my eyes and tried to get back to sleep.

* * *

 **Characters Introduced This Chapter**

 **Dead**

 **Shiro Usami, former SHSL Vocalist (Belongs to: tobi-is-an-artist-too)**

 **I guess you weren't expecting me to upload a chapter this early after the previous one. Well, neither was I, but I was not expecting to overeat and feel like crap afterwards either -I've basically spent the last hour or two finishing this chapter off and stuff to distract me while waiting for my food to digest and for my stomach to basically stop torturing me, since sleeping in this state is probably not the best thing to do to myself when I have to go to work tomorrow. The reason for my tortured stomach? I went out for lunch with some classmates/friends after the presentation I had today, the restaurant served big portions, but because of the time that passed between then and dinnertime I figured that I'd still need to have dinner. But of course, it turned out that I would have been better off skipping dinner anyway. I'm actually starting to feel a bit better now, as I type this author's note, but yeah, that was clearly not great judgement on my part! On the other hand presentations are goddamn scary (and this one was an assessment so it was very important) so I'm glad that's out of the way now! Only two more essays left now, and I've made decent headway with both, which is good.**

 **Anyway, enough about the random details of my random life, let's talk about the chapter. I managed to introduce another character, which I feel pretty good about. I only have three more to introduce, and while my plans of the next chapter are such that another will be introduced next chapter, I really have no idea when character introductions will be finished. But when they do, I will post the pictures I've drawn of the cast in their Hope's Peak uniforms on my Tumblr as promised, since I have finally finished drawing all of them!**

 **I deliberately held off on writing an actual dream sequence of Tyson's and what would happen straight after, since I am saving those for later chapters. I instead decided it would be interesting to look at the possible impact of those nightmares from someone else's point of view, hence Akira's bit. Though the scene where he has a glass of milk with Wakana literally came to my head as I was typing the start of Akira's portion, it wasn't planned in any way at all, and thus it essentially wrote itself. It's actually probably my favourite scene of the chapter.**

 **But yeah, anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always, please leave feedback.**


	11. On Making a Memorial

_Chieko_

When we went down the next morning, Akira and Wakana were in the kitchen already, preparing breakfast. Tyson was also there, but he was sipping from a mug of tea and watching them as they worked-though he did seem somewhat lost in thought as he did so.

"Can I help any?" I asked. Wakana turned around.

"Oh, hey, you've come down. Nah, I think we're fine, right?"

Akira nodded to confirm this.

"Yes, we are. But thank you. Oh, and good morning to the both of you." He added as an afterthought, which made me smile.

"Good morning." I looked down at Shizuka, about to prompt her to say good morning, but she did so herself anyway, and then, after a moment of hesitation, hopped over to Tyson.

"Good morning, Ty-san." She said shyly. Tyson blinked down at her, and then smiled at her.

"Good morning, Miss Shizuka." He replied. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yup! I had a funny dream about Yosa!" Shizuka proclaimed, pointing to the frog peeking out from the pocket of her pink dungaree shorts.

Something flickered over Tyson's face when she said this, but he made a visible effort to push it away, and instead carefully crouched down to her height.

"Ah, did you? Was it a good dream?!"

"Yeah, it was really funny!" Shizuka started to giggle as she launched into an account of the dream that she'd had-it was, as I had expected, bizarre and silly with a story that clearly had some internal logic for her but made little sense to me. I doubted that Tyson was following it any better than I was, but he listened and nodded intently as if he was. So, leaving them to it, I went over to Akira and Wakana, to talk to them and see what they were doing. I considered insisting on helping, but they seemed to have worked up a good dynamic in the breakfast preparation, and so I just leaned against the nearest counter while making small talk with them.

The other three came down soon after-first Masashi, and then Hokuto and Noriko together-and they ended up joining us in the kitchen and chatting. Once Akira and Wakana had the breakfast ready, we carried it over to the table and sat down to start eating.

"Masa-san, look! I'm like a kangaroo!" Shizuka said unexpectedly after a few moments.

"Huh?"

"Look, I've got a pocket for Yosa, like a mummy kangaroo! Though I'm not an actual mummy, which is why I'm just _like_ a kangaroo." Shizuka informed him gravely.

"That's good to hear." Masashi said. "Does that mean Yosa is like a baby kangaroo…a….ah, what's a baby kangaroo called again?"

"A joey, I think?" Wakana suggested.

"No, isn't it a roo?" Hokuto disagreed.

"A _what_ now?" Masashi asked.

"You're thinking of the kangaroo mother and baby from Winnie the Pooh, I think. Kanga and Roo." Tyson chuckled wryly.

"Oh." Hokuto pulled a face. "That's a disappointment."

" _Why_?" Masashi asked, baffled. Shizuka giggled.

"Yup! Yosa's _like_ a baby kangaroo, but he's actually a ballerina frog!"

"Oh, yeah, Shizuka, why do you say that Yosa's a boy? Shouldn't Yosa be a girl?" I asked at that moment. Shizuka had taken that precise moment to eat a mouthful of scrambled eggs, so she didn't answer immediately, but when she did, she looked incredibly offended.

"No, Mummy, Yosa's a boy."

"Why is that, then?" Noriko asked. Shizuka turned to look at her, just as offended by her question as she had been with mine.

"Because he _is_."

"What, even though he's wearing pink?"

At that, Shizuka made an exasperated face and sighed exaggeratedly, before unexpectedly pointing at Akira, who stared back at her in surprise.

"Akira-san has bits of pink hair, and _he's_ still a boy! So Yosa can be a boy too!"

Instantly, everyone started laughing at that, and I groaned.

"Shizuka…."

"Well, that makes a change." Akira shook his head in surprised amusement. "That certainly makes a change."

"And Noriko-Chan, I think you just got _told_." Hokuto cackled gleefully. I shook my head.

"In all truth and honesty, I think we _all_ got told." I sighed. "Keep eating your breakfast, Shizuka."

"Okay, Mummy!"

"She's seriously the cutest." Hokuto whispered over to me, and I smiled back gratefully.

The conversation turned to other things, and once we had all finished breakfast, we all brought our own plates and cups in in so that Akira could wash them.

"It's a nice day, why don't we sit out back for a bit while we're talking about what to do for the rest of the time you're all here?" Akira asked all of us.

"That's fine with me, I'll bring the paintings out there." Tyson shrugged.

"Yeah, it'll be nice to sit outside." I said, taking a glance through the window, noting the garden.

"Right, that's settled then." Masashi declared.

"And who asked you?" Noriko retorted cheekily. Masashi turned and pouted exaggeratedly at her.

"And who asked _you_?" he fired right back. I shook my head at them, remembering the same sorts of silliness from back then. I'd never really understood why it was they seemed to have this friendly rivalry thing going on, but somehow, I doubted they had any idea of the reason either.

"Why don't you go up and bring down some of your toys?" I turned to Shizuka. "You can play with them while we all talk."

Shizuka hesitated, frowning slightly.

"Is something wrong? Do you know the way up there?"

"I have to play by myself?" she asked tremulously.

"Just for a little bit, then I'll play with you, okay, Shizuka-Chan?" Wakana intervened. Masashi looked over and grinned.

"I will, too!"

"See now, that's fine, isn't it?"

Shizuka looked at all three of us carefully, and then a small smile brightened her face again.

"Okay then! I'll go get my toys then!"

 **…**

 _Tyson_

Masashi helped me to carry the paintings out into the garden, and I leaned them against the wall of the house while everyone else found a place to sit. Noriko and Hokuto sat straight down on the grass, Chieko and Wakana each took a garden chair, while Akira and Masashi sat on the doorstep and Shizuka ran out into the grass, found a spot she liked, and arranged her toys out in front of her.

"You're making a bit of a production out of this, aren't you?" Masashi commented.

"We did end up bringing _all_ of them out, I need to make sure I give out the right ones." I replied. To this, Masashi made an unintelligible spluttering sound. I just continued on. Perhaps it had been a bit unnecessary to bring them all out, but I liked how it kept my body busy-stopped me from remembering the nightmares of the night before. Kept me sane, in a sense.

"Okay then. Kazama, sir, this is yours." I continued on once I was satisfied that I'd got everything. "And yours, Edano, Ma'am."

"Oh, cool, thanks." Noriko replied cheerfully, ripping at the brown paper with little abandon. Akira was more careful and measured as he gave his thanks. I found everybody else's, and then once I had given them to whom they belonged to, I hovered, waiting expectantly. Wakana, the only one not opening a painting-obviously, since I had already given it to her-looked up at me.

"De Guerre-Chan, you sit down too." She said kindly.

"Ah, yes, of course." There was an empty garden chair, so I took that and sat down on it, and watched them, wondering if they would like their paintings, whether it had been right of me to give it to them or whether it would make old pain worse.

"Hey, I vaguely recognise this scene!" Noriko cried out.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I do too. "Hokuto looked over at Noriko's, then back at hers as she pulled off the last bits of paper. "And mine too."

"For you guys, I basically just adapted pictures from those class ones that we were given." I explained, gesturing at Masashi, Noriko and Hokuto.

"Niiice. " Noriko grinned, turning her painting around to show the summer-time scene involving herself, Hokuto, Kanekatsu, Yashiro and Erica sitting on a picnic blanket under a tree on what I assumed to be the grounds of Hope's Peak.

"Nice, indeed." Masashi nodded in approval.

"Yes, you really are talented, Tyson-san." Akira agreed.

"And for us, you did our important people." Wakana stated, pointing to herself, and then Chieko and Akira. Both of them nodded at that, though Chieko seemed absent, dreamy as she looked at the painting she was holding in her hands.

"That's about the sum of it..." I hesitated. "Do you mind terribly?"

"Why the-"Masashi stopped mid-sentence and coughed as he looked over to where Shizuka was playing, and then sighed.

"Why on earth should we mind?" Masashi started again huffily. "Of course you did it like that. They're the ones who lost someone they valued above everyone else in that stupid game."

"Mhm." Akira said absently as he carefully leaned his painting next to him against the step, the image of a laughing Hibiki facing the rest of us.

"That doesn't mean we didn't care about everyone else though." Wakana added, biting her lip suddenly and looking guilty. Once again, this earned a spluttered, huffy response from Masashi.

"We _know_ that, silly. You don't need to say that."

"Yeah, exactly. " Hokuto chimed in. "Anyhow, thanks for this, De Guerre-kun, I appreciate it."

"No problem."

"Yes, thank you, De Guerre-kun." Chieko said softly, as we all looked at her. Carefully, she re-wrapped the painting in the brown paper, and set it down beside her.

"Again, not a problem." I said simply, not knowing what else to say. There was a silence for a moment, and then Hokuto spoke up unexpectedly.

"This has me wondering, though, is there anyone here that the rest of us happens to miss a little more than you'd miss the others?"

 _Tsukishima._ I thought instantly, but did not say, for it had been her I'd been dreaming of the night before.

" _This…isn't this yours?" I asked, frowning down at the small hard-covered phrasebook with the slightly dog-eared corners that Yashiro had just handed me, turning it around in my hands and wondering why she had come up to me to give me this._

" _It is. But I have plenty." Yashiro said simply. "And you need it more right now, don't you?"_

" _I…do?"_

" _To translate your secret. Since I can't do it myself, this should be sufficient."_

" _Oh. I see." I blinked, recalling the conversation from earlier. Suddenly, the gesture made a lot of sense to me._

" _Well then, I am grateful, Tsukishima, Ma'am. So, where are you off to now, then?"_

" _I want to find something new to read, so the library."_

" _May I escort you there?"_

 _Yashiro regarded me quizzically, then shook her head firmly._

" _I can go alone."_

" _Well then." I nodded at her. "I bid you goodnight, and I'll see you tomorrow."_

" _Mhm." Wrapping her cardigan more closely around herself, Yashiro turned away and walked down the corridor, footsteps barely making a sound as she gradually disappeared out of sight._

"That's….sort of a tricky question for me, to be honest." Noriko said. "I'm tempted to say Arata-kun right now, but last month I'd have said Inoue-kun and next month I would have said Ueno-kun so….yeah, I don't know. I miss them all. What about you guys?"

"Probably Hibiki-tan, since even accounting for what that creep did to us we were pretty tight back then, all three of us. Right, Akira-tan?" Masashi said.

"Yes, indeed." Akira agreed.

"What about you, Ho-chi, since you asked the question?" Chieko asked. Hokuto frowned.

"Hmm….." Hokuto frowned at this, and considered for a moment, but didn't say anything. A moment passed while we waited for her to answer, but she didn't, and instead looked down at her lap.

"Hokuto-Chan?" Wakana asked in concern.

"Ah….well." Hokuto looked up again and gave us a sheepish grin. "I probably should have thought of this before asking the question, but I really don't actually know. "

"Hey, that's okay, I don't know either!" Noriko said.

"Yeah, it's perfectly fine. " I reassured her. Hokuto bit her lip, but then seemed to cheer up, shaking her head.

"You know what though? One thing I do miss is what we don't remember. I mean, it's silly, considering, but yeah. I just wonder what could have been, and what things we have missed out on."

"Tell me about it…" Masashi agreed. The rest of us nodded at that. It was certainly a sentiment that we could all agree with, all too well.

There was another moment of silence, punctuated only by the sounds of the outdoors, and of Shizuka playing at the other end of the garden. I wondered if I should say something about the night before. Nobody had mentioned anything about having disturbed sleep, and it had only been Akira who had actually seemed to have noticed anything amiss in the night. But I knew I couldn't rely on that being the case for the rest of my stay…

"I think that if I had to pick anyone that I missed more, I'd say Tsukishima." I blurted out instead. Just like that, they all stared at me.

"Is….that a strange thing to say?"

"No, I just didn't expect you to answer." Noriko said wonderingly. I raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't comment.

"I almost expected you to say Cain-san." Wakana piped up. "But…though it's probably wrong for me to say this, I'm glad you didn't."

"No, no, I understand." I wondered about that. I knew that I had enjoyed Erica's company while she was around, that we'd had a certain solidarity as foreigners and appreciators of the past and the stories it had to tell, and how we ourselves related to those stories.

" _It is a bit of a culture shock, being here." Erica admitted. "But!"_

 _She gestured around her, though it wasn't clear what she was referring to, and then turned back to beam._

" _We're going to become an important part of history! Actually, we've become it already, just from being here in the first place. Even when our bodies expire, we'll never die! Isn't that amazing?!"_

But I think where such things truly mattered, there was a separation. A separation in the values we held. That separation was probably why she had killed, and I had not. It was nothing to gloat over, but it was something that meant that missing, or not missing, were not feelings I could so easily apply to her.

At this moment, Shizuka came over, looking a little offended.

"Wakana-san, aren't you going to play with me yet? You've been talking for _ages_." Suddenly, she noticed all the paintings around, and her eyes widened.

"What are _those_?"

"She'll come in a moment, Shizuka-"Chieko started to say, avoiding the question completely, but then unexpectedly, Masashi got up, stretching theatrically as he did so.

"Ah, I'll come play with you. You're probably getting bored on your own there, huh?"

" _Yes_." Shizuka pouted, as if this was an obvious fact. Which I supposed it was, in a way.

"Ah, but I was thinking we should make some plans on what we're doing the rest of our time together…" Akira said.

"Hey, no sweat, fill me in later, okay?" Masashi grinned. "Okay then, Shizuka-tan, let's play, as long as it isn't too strenuous-I'm an old man, you know."

Shizuka giggled at that, and they went down to the bottom of the garden. Chieko let out a great sigh as she put a hand on top of her own painting, almost protectively.

"Well, at least she forgot about it for now…I'll have to show her later anyway, but…"

"Speaking of the paintings, you want to try and get the others to their loved ones, right?" Noriko asked me. I nodded at that.

"If at all possible, yes." I said. "Though I accept that I won't be able to deliver all of them in person."

"All of them? Have you got the entire class here or something?" Hokuto asked.

"Almost…everybody, apart from…" I hesitated a moment. "Inoue and Nobunaga. Not because I didn't paint them at all-despite what they were like, it wouldn't be fair not to, so I did paintings for them, too. But I didn't bring them in because….well, because there's nobody to give them to, is there?"

" _It happened again, huh?"_

 _I held in my disgust as Hideki wafted by and stared down at Yashiro, orange eyes as hard as ever. But it got harder to hold in those feelings when he suddenly started to laugh, wheezing from the efforts and having to hold his sides in._

" _Oh, I can't –oh my god, I really can't believe it! Another one bites the dust! Pffft, I suppose that psycho First-Aider was right to say he'd finally kicked off this entire fucking mess!"_

" _H-hey, Inoue-kun, that's a bit uncalled for…." Kimihiro appeased, but was, of course, ignored. And I just held back my own anger at his lack of caring, not wanting to make this worse than it already was. Not that it could do that, in any case._

Akira pulled a sympathetic face and nodded soberly.

"True, very true. But you're right, it wouldn't be practical to get everybody's paintings to their left behind loved ones. Leave that to me. I'll either make sure to send them to the right places myself, or get Kita-san –Masa-san's brother-to do it for me. "

"I could probably pitch in a bit too," Wakana offered. "Though it would probably depend on the next time the Future Foundation ask my orchestra to perform for them."

I looked to both of them, and smiled.

"Thank you."

"Then, where are we going to start?" Hokuto asked.

"Didn't Cain-san's family settle in Towa? Do they still live here? That would be the easiest place to start, right?" Noriko asked.

"They did, from what I remember." I replied.

"Yes, they still reside around here. And if I remember correctly, her father still works for the Towa Computing Company." Akira confirmed. "So that would be a good place to start…maybe even today…actually, hold on."

"What's wrong?" Chieko asked as Akira suddenly got up and made to go back inside.

"Let me get something to write all of this down on." Akira said as he opened the back door. "If we're going to do this, we may as well make sure we do it right. I'll just be a moment."

"Ah, so official." Noriko laughed as he disappeared back into the house. I chuckled along with the others, but as I looked over at the remaining paintings leaning against the house, wrapped up and waiting, I knew that he was correct-if we were going to do this, we should do this right.

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

Getting off the train and walking around, I felt a strange sense of what I could only call deja-vu. Though perhaps maybe it was not entirely accurate to call it that, given that we _had_ indeed been here before, one way or another. I knew that I would have probably done the vaguely touristy thing and looked around the city when I'd first arrived to join Hope's Peak, and that later on errands for the club I had created would have sent me here.

But where The Wishing Tree was concerned, I wasn't so sure. I had not been one of the group who had been there to see it blow up, and so I never had that memory to lose. Still, walking down the paths that I knew were in that immediate area gave off an odd sense. _Did I ever come around here with Rei?_ Had we gone shopping together, had we brought crepes at the stand we'd just gone past, or gone for a meal in the Italian restaurant just up ahead, or gone to catch a movie at the cinema across the road from us?

 _I wish I knew._

"Oh, I think this is….hey, we're almost there, right, Kazama-Chan?" Wakana turned to ask Akira. "This all….feels familiar."

 _Ah, yes, she was one of the ones who saw it happen,_ I remembered, noticing how her steps slowed all of a sudden, as if wary. I noticed that Chieko and Tyson seemed to do the same, with the latter in particular suddenly seeming on guard for anything that was off. Remembering what they had witnessed, even without memory.

"Mummy? What's wrong?" Shizuka asked, tugging at Chieko's hand as she picked up on the mood.

"It's….nothing…"

"Mummy?" Shizuka still looked confused.

"A-ah, don't worry, Shizuka-Chan, it's fine, really!" Noriko reassured her. Shizuka twisted around to look at us while still walking.

"Is this a scary place? Why does everyone look scared?"

"It isn't actually a scary place!" I piped up, making sure to smile. "It just….has some scary memories. From a long time ago. Like a haunted house!"

"Somehow, I don't think that was a helpful definition." Masashi snarked at me, but at that moment, we reached the site of The Wishing Tree, and we all stopped to look at it.

Of course, The Wishing Tree itself was not there anymore, but there was still something in its place. A long, boxy metal pillar, surrounded by a small rope fence, with a plaque hanging from it. The plaque read "Wishing Tree Memorial". The pillar itself was engraved with names on all four sides, and a number in brackets next to each of them, all in a clear, medium-sized font.

The names of people who had died, and their ages.

"This….is…." Chieko looked up at it. "The other people?"

"The Remnants' murder victims, including those who died in the bombings of The Wishing Tree and Towa City Central Hospital, and anyone who died during the Distractor Riots." Akira filled in. "I helped a little with this. Documenting the names and all. It was…quite the task."

I could imagine it was, for as I circled around it, I could see that three sides of the pillar were completely filled from top to bottom with names, and the final one was over three quarters full. _Oh, wait, if that's the case, then…._

I went back around to the first side I had been looking at, and scanned the names on it, and soon came across it.

 _Kiku Inoue (17)_

"There's too many of them." Wakana murmured.

"Whatcha looking at, Hokuto-Chan?" Noriko asked. "Oh, hey, that's the name of that girl who went to Hope Valley, right? She got killed by her friend?"

"Huh? Who's that?" Masashi came to look at the name, and nodded. "Oh, yeah, there was a lot of coverage on that, huh?"

"She wasn't related to _our_ Inoue, was she, this girl?" Tyson asked.

"I….don't think so?" Akira said.

"Somehow I feel like the newspapers would have gone even crazier if that was the case." Wakana commented drily. I laughed at that-just from the things I read, I knew that she was right to say that. But at the same time, I wondered if Hideki would have even cared, if he had been related to this girl.

" _Oi."_

 _Just about to turn back and go back to sleep now that he'd shown his face and confirmed he was still alive, Hideki suddenly crossed back across the canteen with a surprising amount of energy, and shoved his hands deep in the pockets of his black hoodie as he looked down at Chieko, who barely seemed to notice him. Wakana and Daisuke, sitting with her, were on guard immediately. But it was Kanekatsu, at the other table with Erica, Tyson and Kimihiro, who spoke up._

" _What do you want, Inoue-kun?"_

 _Apart from a derisive snort, Hideki paid her little attention, and instead continued to stare at Chieko._

 _"Hey, Chieko-Chan. I know that was a shitty turn of events for you, but don't worry, you're going to get out of here. You're going to get stronger, you're going to be able to face this. And when ya do, you'll get out of here. I know I sure as hell won't, but you will- you hear me?! Heh, whatever. Good luck to ya, kid."_

 _Hideki sighed and rubbed his dirty face after that little…..whatever that even was, and then glowered at the rest of us._

" _Right, I'm going back to sleep so you can deal with it or fuck off." He announced abruptly, as he had taken to doing, and then he stalked away. There was a moment of silence, and then I exchanged a look with Noriko._

" _Did that just….happen?"_

Perhaps he would have cared, in his weird, harsh way. But not that it mattered. For all intents and purposes, he never knew it had happened, and he hadn't been related to her anyway, so it was not as if he would've had any reason to care in the first place.

Seeing the name that had had a brief mention in my journals, I then had a thought that perhaps Rei's name might be on here, too. More likely as one of the Distractor Riot victims than anything else, but it was a possibility. So I started to look at it more carefully, both hoping to see and not to see the name of a Rei who might have once been mine on there.

"What is this?" I heard Shizuka ask in wonder. "Why is there so much writing on it?"

"It's a memorial. We use memorials as a means of remembering and honouring people who died." Tyson answered her. "So you see all of this, Miss Shizuka? These are the names of people who died, and who need to be remembered."

"Ah, let me show you, Shizuka." I looked over to see Masashi gesture to Shizuka to look at a name he was pointing to on the final side of the pillar. He frowned and considered, then turned to Shizuka.

"You can't really see it from here, is it okay if I carry you?"

Shizuka frowned at this, but it really did not take all that long for her to consider as she nodded pretty quickly. So Masashi grinned, and then carefully knelt down, making a little 'oof' sound, as he did so. Then, once he had Shizuka, he creakily got up again, and then using his free hand, pointed to a particular name.

"That's my father's name."

Shizuka gave him a look as if he'd said something foreign.

"Your daddy?"

"Yes, that's right."

Now that I'd looked at the other pillars, I went to stare at this one, and found myself looking at the name in question.

 _Hayate Kita (44)_

I thought, for a moment, of my own father. There wasn't such a big memorial like this one, but the town had put up a commemorative plaque in the town square for those who had died in the Space Shuttle Rikimaru disaster. Before I'd been involved in Hope's Peak, I couldn't even bear to think about it, let alone go to see it. Afterwards, when I had finally allowed myself to believe that I was really at home and safe to boot, going to see it was one of the first things I did, and finally, I had understood. Something about remembrance, the importance of it, that I could not quite put into words. But I had understood it.

"That's your daddy's name?"

"Yes, it is?"

"Why isn't _my_ daddy's name on this?"

"Uh….."

Helplessly, Masashi looked over to Chieko, who had been carefully keeping an eye on them for a few moments. Looking almost panicked, she just shook her head at them. And it occurred to me that there was no memorial to the 11 we had lost. There were graves, and Wakana's song, and Tyson's paintings, sure. But no collective memorial to approach and be awed by, as we were doing now. Nothing like that.

 _That's not right…_

"Because he didn't die for the same reason. That was because of one bad thing, this is about another." I piped up.

Which was sort of accurate, in the most technical sense. Now was not the time to go into the details on how all these different 'bad things' were actually very much linked to each other.

"Oh…."

"Okay, how about we get going now? We've still got a little while to go to reach Cain-san's father." Akira announced decisively.

"Yeah, sure."

Masashi let Shizuka down, and she ran to Chieko's side, clinging tightly to her, no doubt directly experiencing the feelings she had no ability to understand.

"Alright then, let's go."

As we trooped on, I took one last look over my shoulder at the pillar. There had been a few Reis on there (and some Reikos and Reinas, too, that I had briefly considered), but none of their ages seemed right for the Rei I had apparently known. And none of those Reis made me feel anything at all, none of those names had sparked any sort of emotion. Even without memory, I should have felt something, _anything_ , the same way Wakana and Chieko and Tyson had instinctively recoiled from this area moments ago. But I didn't.

Which meant that the answer was elsewhere. And I did not know how to feel about that.

 **…**

 _Masashi_

It felt slightly evil, to walk away afterwards, leaving Erica's dad still sitting on that park bench, contemplating the wrapped painting in his hands, while his part-eaten lunch languished in the box next to him. But I could see how awkward it was him, to look at us and remember that his daughter was not amongst us-and of course, that fact was the whole reason he had been given a painting, in the first place. And I wasn't sure about the others, but I knew I'd felt awkward standing there, confronted with his simmering but still strong guilt and grief.

"I…do believe that went well. " Tyson said.

But still, I could tell that Simon Cain had appreciated the gesture, that it had touched him in some way. That despite the feelings, he'd probably been glad to have us unexpectedly appear just as he'd stepped out of work to take his lunch break. So I nodded reassuringly at Tyson.

"Yeah, I think it did. You hit onto a pretty good idea with all this, you know." I told him. He smiled gratefully.

"I suppose I did. But I don't suppose it will be that easy with the others." He mused.

"No, probably not." Akira agreed. "But it could be. We'll just have to see."

"Yeah, exactly. And we're gonna help you out anyway, so it'll be fine, right?" I added.

"Hey, hey, what should we do next?" Hokuto asked. "Shall we just look around everywhere a bit or…?"

"Eh, I'm not sure I really feel like wandering around so much. " Wakana said.

"No?" Hokuto tilted her head.

"No, not particularly."

It then dawned on me that going to see Erica's dad would have had a very different meaning for Wakana than it did for me, or the rest of us. _You stupid moron._ It hadn't occurred to me, but seeing Erica's father, reassuring him that it was alright to be sad for her even in spite of what she had done, that had to have been a blow for her, a reminder of everything she specifically had lost, the person in the class that she missed the most.

 _Not that we really need reminders of all this anyway._

"Do you want to go back, Wakana-Chan?" Chieko asked her, concerned.

"We can, if you want to." Akira interjected.

Wakana considered this, and then Noriko spoke up.

"You know what, we should get ice-cream! Didn't we pass a place on the way here? An ice-cream place, with my name?"

"Are you suggesting this because of the ice-cream, or because the place is called 'Noriko's'?" I muttered at her, causing her to pout and elbow me playfully in the side.

"I quite like the idea of getting some ice-cream." Tyson admitted.

"I second that!" Hokuto agreed.

"Ice-cream?! Mummy, can we have ice-cream?" Shizuka bounced excitedly. Chieko patted her head absently, and we all looked to Wakana, who considered, and eventually smiled.

"Yeah, okay."

 **…**

 _Chieko_

 _Okay, this was a bad idea._

Leaning my forehead against the window as I looked aimlessly out of it, the thought pinged around my head relentlessly. _This was a bad idea._ I should have known that we'd be revisiting the past, once we were altogether. That there would be no avoiding it. And in a sense I did know, I was aware. But I hadn't realised that it would be to the extent that it ended up being. How difficult it would be, to keep Shizuka from noticing things. Today wasn't too bad, if I was being honest, even despite the fact that we'd gone to see where The Wishing Tree had once been. She hadn't even questioned who we'd gone to visit nor why Tyson had given him a painting-though I suspected that the excitement of unexpected ice-cream had wiped any lingering curiosities from her mind. But this was only the beginning, really. Distractions wouldn't work forever, and standing here, thinking about it all while we waited for Wakana to finish with the bathroom, that concerned me.

I hadn't stopped the others from answering her questions, as such. They kept looking to me, to see whether I minded, and though I did mind, I also wanted to trust their judgement in how what we had suffered should be explained to a child. And they had been so good about it all, so there hadn't been a reason to regret that so far. But that was just the surface of it, and seeing Erica's father today and seeing how it weighed on him, the regret of knowing that someone he'd loved and lost had done something so awful, made me realise that sooner or later, the topic of Koutarou would come up. And how easy would it be, to explain that? How could I even do that to her? Not to mention the others, especially Akira.

Because though I would not be portraying him as a villain when explaining to Shizuka, I could not act as if nothing had ever happened. It would not be fair to any of us, if I were to do that. _What…do I do?_

"Mummy! What _is_ this? You never told me!"

Startled, I whipped back around to see that Shizuka had wandered away from where she was busily drawing, and was now standing by the painting which I'd leaned against the wall that morning, just before we'd left the house. Shizuka waited expectantly, and I hesitated for a moment.

"It's…a painting. " I said dumbly.

"A painting? Of what? Where did you get it from?"

"De Guerre-kun painted it, and gave it to me." Shizuka gave me a blank look at that, and it took me a moment to realise she hadn't understood the name I'd used.

"Tyson-kun." I tried again. Comprehension dawned on her small face.

"Oh, Ty-san. Mummy, you should have just said that. But what did he paint anyway?"

I rubbed my face wearily. _I should put have just put it away._ Then, I knelt down and carefully pulled the paper away, letting it gather in a loose pile on the floor around the painting, before I pulled it away and turned it so Shizuka could see it. She studied it intensely, then looked over at me.

"It's Daddy!" she said triumphantly. A second later, the satisfied expression morphed into one of confusion.

"Why did Ty-san paint Daddy for you?"

"Because….because…because Tyson-kun knew him too, and he was sad about that, and he wanted to do something nice to remember him by."

Such a simplistic explanation, and so, so inadequate. But what else could I say? _Could this be enough, for now at least?_

"Were they friends?" Shizuka asked, wide-eyed. I nodded at that as I leaned the painting back against the wall.

"We all were." I took a deep breath. "All of us here, and some other people too. "

Shizuka stared at me, and pulled Yosa out of her dungaree pockets, hugging the frog close to her as she considered this.

"Mummy?"

"Yes?"

"Can I have it?"

"Uh….."

Not expecting that, all I could do was look at her, and almost instantly, her eyes started to shimmer and lip started to wobble threateningly, before she abruptly turned away and rushed for the sleeping bag, burrowing right down into it until I couldn't see her.

"Shizuka?!"

Baffled, I got up and went over, kneeling at the opening of the sleeping bag and peering in to see the top of Shizuka's head.

"Shizuka? What's wrong?"

"You won't let me have it?" her voice was muffled.

"I…I didn't say that." I said cautiously. "Do you really want it?"

" _Yes_." Even muffled by sleeping bag, she sounded incredibly offended that I could think otherwise.

"Why?"

"I don't have any pictures of Daddy! You have all of them, and it isn't fair. "

I was about to protest against that when I realised she was right, and that this applied to so much more than pictures. I had memories, the privilege of having known him, other mementos besides the pictures. Even the turbulent feelings I'd been questioning and had never had a chance to resolve, even Shizuka herself. Though Koutarou was gone, I still had so much of him. And apart from knowing that he was her father, she did not have anything of him beyond shared blood.

 _And that really isn't fair._

"Well….do you think you'll have enough space on your wall for it?"

Shizuka didn't respond for a moment, but then she shuffled upwards, until her head was poking out of the sleeping bag, and she peered up at me hesitantly.

"I can have it?" she half-whispered.

I nodded. It hurt my heart to, but I nodded, and managed to put a smile on my face.

"Of course."

Her eyes went wide with disbelief for a moment, and then she wriggled the rest of the way out of the sleeping bag and clambered onto my lap, wrapping her arms around me and burying her face into my middle. She didn't say anything, but she did not need to.

* * *

 **Characters introduced this chapter**

 **Dead**

 **Hideki Inoue, former SHSL Technician (Belongs to: Scissor-Snipper )**

 **I really, really hate coming up with chapter titles. -.-' Ahem, but anyway, I guess this is another case of me not focusing too much on a particular event itself-the meeting of a dead character's loved one- and instead telling the story around it, because there will be plenty of other scenes in the story that deal with the actual moment. I think it keeps things interesting, but don't worry, there will be actual scenes of the painting handovers and meetings with these different people and all sorts of things.**

 **Erm, so anyway, you might have seen the update on my profile, but in case you didn't, I have started tracking a Tumblr tag for this fic (#The SHSL Survivors' Society). I've posted a timeline of the mutual killing game using it, and I'll use it for any other things I post there about the fic, including all the drawings. But also, if any of you wanted to draw for this fic, whether that's your characters or someone else's, and you have a Tumblr then it would be awesome if you used the tag and posted the pics there . Or if you don't have Tumblr you could message me as to where to find the pic and I could share it there (and obviously credit you) because it would also be nice to have everything in one place to look at :) I mean you obviously don't have to draw for this if you don't want to, but if you do, the tag is now in existence, so, well, yeah.**

 **Anyway, I've not got much else to say (which is weird because when I started to type this authors' note I thought I did but meh), so I guess I'll leave it at that. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave feedback :)**


	12. Anemone, Marigold, Raspberry, Cowslip

_Wakana_

Staring up at the ceiling in the darkness, I considered just trying to lie here, to wait the night out. I'd probably drop off eventually, for a few moments at least. But I didn't feel like doing that. I wanted to move, to do something instead. I was not just sleepless, but restless, too. So I just decided to give up on that idea, and get up.

Carefully, being sure not to wake Chieko up, I sat up and reached out with my feet to find my slippers. Once I had, I stood up and then padded cautiously to the door, inching it open very slowly and then I slipped out and quietly shut the door behind me, just as I had done the night before.

 _And…what now?_

The night was silent. Behind the other bedroom doors, everyone else was sleeping, however troubled that sleep was. There was no reason to be out, nobody to be with. Of course, I was used to that in the first place. But at home, or on tour, I had somewhere to write music or doodle idly, I could flip through channels on the hotel television and see what the late-night TV of that area had to offer, I could make myself a snack or a drink. I did all of this alone. It was better that way, I did not want to share a life with anyone, could not share a life with anyone, after all. I'd learnt the art of solitude.

And yet, here I was, hoping that one of the others would wake up, so I wasn't just standing here. _Longing_ for it. It was probably little more than the fact that we were all gathered here. Sighing, I rubbed my face, and went to the staircase, but then stopped, and looked back over my shoulder at the door of Akira's bedroom. _It would be nice to make a habit of a friendly glass of milk, even if it is only just for as long as we're all here._ I turned around and moved away from the stairs, and just hovered, wondering what to do next. It was one thing if someone else was awake, but another one completely if I went to wake up someone else.

" _If faith really was enough to make someone innocent," Kanekatsu sighed. "Then I'm sure that fewer atrocities would be committed. Unfortunately, we do not live in that world."_

It had been surprising to hear Chieko utter those words today, when we had gone to see Erica's father. For a moment, it was like I was back there, gently shepherding Chieko out of the courtroom, reeling but knowing that my own shock was nothing compared to what my friend was going through. I hadn't expected her to remember those words, but then again, she'd had more reason to take them to heart. And they'd been well received, but I did have to wonder what Erica's father would have thought if he knew that originally they had come from one of his daughter's victims.

Not that I would have ever told him that. Why would I? I'd seen what second-hand guilt looked like for myself. I knew that the feeling went far beyond what could be considered rational to regret. I had no ill will for him, or even for Erica's other family members-her mother and a younger brother, if I remembered correctly. I did not blame them for what had occurred, no matter the turmoil that looking at them had caused.

" _Aaand…that's it. That's the end of my story."_

 _With a flourish, Erica lifted her pen off the page, and then clicked the top so the nib retracted, before snapping her notebook shut, and tucking the pen into her pocket. She started to hold it out, but then suddenly withdrew. She then fiddled with the yellow pin attached to her jacket, and carefully pulled that off. Then, she looked around, and then stepped over to Chieko and handed both items to her, putting the pin carefully on top of the notebook._

" _Take this for me, won't you, Akamine-san? Preserve my story for me."_

" _Erm…..but why would you ask me…?" Chieko asked in confusion as she hesitantly took the items._

" _I couldn't really tell, because I'm about the past, and not the future, but I think it's fitting, to give it to you." Erica smiled sunnily, a smile that faltered slightly when she looked over to me. "And you, as well, but understandably I don't think you'd want to take a last request from me, right?"_

" _Not….not at the moment." I managed to say. I couldn't understand it, this mood of hers, how it was able to keep up despite what she had done, and what was going to happen. But the sudden hesitance in her brightness, that gave me some hope that perhaps she was not as much of a monster as she'd appeared throughout this trial. Though, that made it harder. Because even though it had been Daisuke she'd killed, even though this time I'd so badly wanted to get to the bottom of it, this reminded me that this was still the same, we were still sending another friend to their death. How could I reconcile these things?_

" _Okay, I understand the notebook thing-you're always freaking scribbling whatever the hell you scribble in there, but why your pin?" Masashi burst out._

 _Erica laughed at this, but for the first time since meeting her, her laugh was hollow._

" _Well…rather than drag this out any longer, I'll just tell you that the full explanation is written in there. But, I will tell you, that it's evidence that Yukizome-sensei wasn't delusional."_

" _Huh?" I looked over at the pin, cheerfully oblivious as it sat on top of the notebook._

" _Ah, you'll find out soon enough. In any case, once again, I apologise for what I've put you guys through, and…well, this is goodbye."_

 _Erica bowed, and then she turned away._

Despite the turmoil, I was glad that we were doing this, that Tyson had brought paintings and had expressed the need to deliver them in person, that we would be visiting the graves of some of the others. Because it meant that at least we were all still remembering, that even though it was so good to be together again, it would not be all about us, the seven Survivors, at the expense of their memories.

 _Huh?_ I reached up to my eyes, and felt they were wet. _When did that happen?_ I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand, and blinked the rest away. _Ah, perhaps it is better if I'm on my own then._ I'd given up on never crying in front of others, given that I had done so twice now because of the game, but even so. With a sigh, I dried the back of my hand against my pyjama shorts, and then went back to the door of our room, and sat down next to it, leaning against the wall.

I'd wait here a while. Maybe someone would come out, or maybe they wouldn't. But either way, I'd wait a while, and if nothing happened, then I'd just go back inside, and endure the rest of the night in bed.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

As we walked to the graveyard where Hideki and Hironori had been buried, Akira talked a little about what it had been like to be the ones overseeing their funerals.

"I wasn't the one who chose this graveyard and made all the arrangements-that was one of my higher-ups, since I'd barely joined at that time. But they did look to me for most of the decisions about the arrangements. The way they put it was something like I knew what was best, because we had been classmates and I had survived what I didn't. But….ah, it was hard."

"Because of what they were like?" Hokuto asked, absently fiddling with the bouquet that we'd picked out for Hideki's grave, a mixture of flowers in whites and yellows and oranges, mainly daisies and marigolds, so cheerful and utterly the opposite of what Hideki had been like. _Go figure,_ I thought wryly. I'd never come across any flowers that could be said to match his personality, apart from dead ones. Which was pretty sad, now I thought of it.

"No...not to say that wasn't something I thought about." Akira shrugged. "It's more that I didn't know what to do for them, what they'd like, you know?"

"Yeah, I do." I found myself saying, even though I wasn't sure why, exactly, I was able to say that I knew. Akira looked at me, and smiled gratefully.

"I just kept it simple, in the end. But in any case, I do come every so often to tidy up, place new flowers, that kind of thing, but not as often as I probably should."

"I try to too…..I'm worse than it than Akira-tan, though." Masashi huffed.

"The main thing is that you _do_ come. " Wakana consoled. "It's so sad to think that otherwise, nobody would. "

"Someone comes to visit Inoue-kun though, right?" Noriko asked.

"Yes, that's right." Akira confirmed. "Sasaki-san, an older acquaintance. And actually, there's another girl who comes, I think she was an old classmate of his or something. Neither of them come that often though."

As we approached the two noticeably simple gravestones, we fell silent. Hideki's was the first one, so as Akira pulled out the plastic bag he'd brought with him for this purpose, Hokuto unwrapped the flowers, and placed them down in front of the gravestone.

" _Ho-Chi, Edano-Chan, what happened?" Wakana asked, instantly rushing over to the two of them and holding a hand to help them up. I followed more warily, but my attention was caught by what I saw behind them, and despite my instant revulsion, I ended up moving towards it._

" _We just tripped over Inoue-kun's body!" Hokuto exclaimed a little too loudly. Wakana made a slightly strangled noise of surprise, and I looked up to see that she had now noticed Hideki's body. And almost on cue, Monobear's dreaded announcement started._

" _Upupu! Attention, everyone! Another body has been discovered! After a short amount of time for the investigation, the class trial will commence!" to blare, on a loop as always._

"Well, that's better. " Akira said after a moment, getting up and dusting down his trousers. Hokuto sprung up too, and then we hovered.

"Ah….should we say something?" Tyson asked.

"Like what?" Noriko wanted to know.

"….I'm not sure, really."

"To be honest, I'm not really all that sure either." Tyson said, adjusting the bag he was holding on his shoulder, careful not to jostle the painting inside it too much.

"Do you really think he'd care, anyway? I dunno, I just feel like he'd be all like "Psh, fucking hypocrites, pretending you actually give a damn when it doesn't make a difference.'" Masashi mimicked, shrugging heavily.

"… _and why do you even give a shit?"_

" _Inoue-san, we agreed on this, to check in each breakfast time and dinner time, to make sure we're all safe." Akira sighed._

" _Tch, safe, in this fucking situation, when I'm sure you're all, you're all fricking looking to off me at the next possible moment. Hah, no. Besides, in case you didn't notice, I was fucking sleeping."_

" _Ah, that's not true-the bit about us looking to mill-kill anyone, not the sleeping bit." I burst out. Hideki sneered at me, but didn't respond._

" _Pfft. Pfft, whatever. So keep having your fucking check in if you want, make yourself feel like you're so good and shit, but I'm not gonna bother, so let me go back the fuck to slee-"As Hideki was about to shut the door, Kimihiro unexpectedly stuck his foot in the door to stop him, and when Hideki glared viciously, Kimihiro just laughed sheepishly._

" _Well, you might be onto something since it's not like we're psychics or anything like that. But, hey, I can vouch that those of us here right now, we don't want to have anything to do with this game, we don't want to kill anyone or anything like that, so we do want to make sure everyone's safe and all while we're still here. "_

 _At this point, Kimihiro paused, but as Hideki was about to gear up to give a retort, Kimihiro ploughed on, stepping back slightly._

" _So, since you want your sleep and all, why not just come down, say 'hey, I'm alive,' then just go back. It's not like you need to stay if you really don't want to. But just for our peace of mind."_

" _Yeah, exactly." I chimed in with agreement. "That much is fine."_

" _Huh…..whatever. I'm going back to sleep now anyway."_

 _With that, Hideki once again made to slam his door in our faces, and this time we let him. After that, we just exchanged looks._

" _Well….I_ think _that was agreement." Kimihiro shrugged._

" _We'll find out at dinner if it is, anyway." I added._

"But we _do_ care, though!" Wakana protested, frowning heavily. Masashi pulled a face.

"Hey, I was just guessing what the dude would actually say."

"Still…"

I wondered about that. Masashi was right, that did sound very Hideki, and yet I remembered his clumsy attempt at being consoling, even if it hadn't fully registered with me at the time. I looked down at Shizuka, who hadn't said anything, but was just watching carefully. I wondered what she was thinking, and lightly touched her head. She looked up at me.

"Mummy, are you okay?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." I asked, managing a smile. "Are you okay?"

"Mhm." Shizuka nodded earnestly. She looked like she was about to say something else, but then she hesitated.

"You know a lot of dead people, don't you?" she asked eventually. I sighed, and rubbed my forehead almost absently.

"Yes, we do."

"Ohh. " She didn't ask any more, and instead clung to my jeans and watched everyone.

"Here, Kazama, sir." Putting down his bag, Tyson took a couple of steps over to Hironori's gravestone and scooped up the long-dead flowers and held them out to drop into Akira's carrier bag, before then going to pick it up. Then, Noriko went to put down the bouquet of petunias, freesias and pansies down in their place, and then stepped back.

 _He stared at us for a moment, as if sizing us up. Just as I started to squirm, a smile slowly spread across his face._

 _"I am Hironori Nobunaga, the SHSL First Aider. Don't worry about getting injured, I am here after all."_

" _Uh…well, thanks. " I blinked, slightly non-plussed, but soon recovered. "I'm Chieko Akamine, the SHSL Gardener. And this is Koutarou Ueda, the SHSL Lucky Student."_

" _Ahh, I see…you two know each other, huh?" Hironori asked, looking from me to Koutarou with barely disguised interest, something odd that I couldn't quite put a finger on in his expression._

" _What's it to you?" Koutarou muttered darkly, staring at him suspiciously. Hironori held his hands up in mock surrender._

" _Hey, hey, just curious. I like to get to know people in case I have to help them later, you know?"_

" _Sure!" I wasn't sure, but I decided to let it go. Perhaps he just wasn't the type who was good at first impressions. "We're actually neighbours."_

" _I see." With that, Hironori turned around and floated over to introduce himself to whoever had come into the classroom, his yellow coat streaming behind him. After a moment of just blinking in his wake, I turned to Koutarou, and shrugged._

" _I wouldn't be surprised if things got weirder." I said. "Besides, there was nothing wrong with the question in itself…"_

"… _I suppose so." Koutarou said reluctantly._

For a moment, we all stared down at the gravestone. I wondered what the others were remembering about Hironori. I couldn't imagine that it was anything particularly good, which was …sad, if only because there wasn't a chance for there to be good memories.

"These trumpet-y flowers are kinda the colour of Nobunaga-kun's hair, right?" Hokuto blurted out suddenly. I stared at Hokuto, and then looked down at a moment, and figured out she was talking about the petunias, which were a shade that was between pink and purple, sort of a magenta colour. _Trumpet-y flowers?_ The gardener I had once been would have probably laughed aloud at that, but as it was, I just shook my head.

"Petunias, Ho-Chi." I corrected, shaking my head. She pulled a face and shrugged.

"Well, they _do_ , right?" she persisted.

"I can see what you mean, actually…." Noriko put in. "That's….weird. I'm never going to look at that colour in the same way again."

"Why did you feel the need to bring that up anyway?" Masashi asked.

"Well, it's funny, isn't it? The things that can remind you of….well, other things." Hokuto asked.

"That's true." Wakana nodded.

"I don't actually see it…should we have picked something else, then?" Akira said, concerned.

"No, I don't think so. I think it's fine, either way." I said.

"Yeah, I agree." Wakana added.

"I suspect he wouldn't even care either way, right, Nobunaga-tan?" Masashi addressed this last bit at the gravestone, and we all stared at him in confusion. It took him a moment to notice, but then he groaned.

"What? So I talk to them sometimes…"

"It's okay, Masa-san." Unexpectedly Shizuka stepped forward before anyone else could reply. "I talk to my daddy sometimes when I go to visit him."

Masashi seemed at a loss as to what to say, so he simply ruffled her hair. We stood there for a moment after that, not saying anything. I looked from Hironori's gravestone to Hideki's and back again. _After we go, who'll be the next one to visit them, and when?_ Whoever it was, it would probably be a while. _Is that fair? I don't think so, but I suppose that's just how it is…_

"Well then, shall we go?" Akira asked.

"Yeah."

 **…**

Masashi ended up leading the way to Kanekatsu's grave when we got to the graveyard where she was buried, carrying the bouquet that we'd picked out for her, and as soon as he got there, he laid them down carefully, before turning and waiting for us to catch up. It didn't take long, since we weren't that far behind anyway, and so when we did, he smiled and gestured, as if showing us to Kanekatsu.

"Told you I'd bring the others along, Iwafusa-tan. Not to mention the flowers." He said. It was obvious he was continuing some other one-sided conversation from a previous visit.

"We hope you like them." I added, trying to help, though it did feel a bit strange. I did not really speak to the dead, so to speak. I encouraged Shizuka to, whenever we visited Koutarou, and she liked being able to tell him about her day, what she was getting up to in school and all that sort of thing. But me? Maybe a little, but not so much. I wasn't sure if all of this showed on my face, but Masashi did tilt his head curiously at me before continuing on.

"Yeah, everyone helped to pick them out. " After that though, the conversation seemed to peter out a little, and we all just stood there, much as we'd done at Hideki's and Hironori's graves. After a moment, Shizuka tugged at my jeans, and I looked down.

"Mummy, I'm hungry. Is it lunchtime yet?"

Looking at my watch, I discovered it was early afternoon, and probably a good time to have lunch anyway.

"Almost." I told her. "We'll get something to eat once we've left here, okay?"

"Mhm…." She was clearly not pleased with that, but didn't complain, instead kneeling down to closely examine the flowers we'd laid at the gravestone. I found myself wondering what Kanekatsu would have made of Shizuka's existence, how she might have regarded me if she been able to know that.

"Are _you alright though?" I heard Kimihiro asked Hokuto in some concern._

" _Yeah, I'm fine. Bit shocked, it sucks that someone else died again, but I guess I'm glad it's not one of us. Aaand….maybe it's better that it was him, rather than someone else. I mean, who's gonna miss him?"_

" _It is not_ better _that Inoue-kun died." Kanekatsu put in at this point, turning to look at them both. "Whatever his….shortcomings were in life, he was still an innocent human being who did not deserve being stabbed in the back for whatever reason. What would have been better was if nobody had been killed at all."_

" _A-ah, I didn't mean anything bad…okay, maybe I should shut up, huh?" Hokuto said, rubbing her head sheepishly._

" _Probably, yeah." Kimihiro said, sounding equally as sheepish for reasons that eluded me. "Sorry about that, Iwafusa-san."_

 _Kanekatsu nodded distractedly at that, but then Erica spoke up_ _as the two went elsewhere-Hokuto going to join Noriko and Masashi, while Kimihiro seemed to just amble._

" _Well, sure, but on the other hand, if somebody hadn't killed him, then would we still not be at risk of poisoning? Shouldn't the same reasoning apply to us, as well?"_

 _Kanekatsu took a breath and let it out, before rubbing her head tiredly._

" _Of course it does…but…." She sighed again, and shook her head. "As you've mentioned often, Cain-san, this is not a fair game we're stuck in. Not fair at all. Now, I've finished with the body…"_

" _Then, we'll stand by and guard his body, Ma'am." Tyson came over at this point. Daisuke followed, an old bedsheet in hand. Kanekatsu nodded soberly as she got up._

"You'd have been kind, wouldn't you…?"

"Mummy?"

"What was that, Akamine-san?" Akira asked at the same time, which is when I realised I had thought that aloud. I shook my head rapidly.

"Ah, nothing."

Wakana went to say something, but paused, looking past our shoulders. Noriko, standing next to her frowned in confusion but then seemed to notice, so Akira, Tyson, Hokuto, Masashi and I turned to see a man coming in our direction, carrying a bouquet of incredibly vivid red roses-a lot brighter than the roses within the mixed bouquet we had selected. He was also quite clearly heading for the same grave that we were standing at.

When he got closer, we could see that he was about our age, tallish but still at least a couple of feet shorter than Akira, Masashi and Tyson, with strong angular features, neat mousy brown hair and soft eyes of an imprecise colour, something that was not quite green or grey or hazel, but still looking somewhat like all those colours, but in different ways. He was wearing a lightweight grey jacket over a beige shirt tucked into smart trousers with black shoes, and looked vaguely familiar. He blinked at us for a moment, looking very surprised to see seven adults and a single child crowded around Kanekatsu's grave, but he did incline his head politely to us.

"Good afternoon." He said quietly. The voice was as oddly familiar as his face, bringing back wispy memories of reassurances of safety, of someone soothing us that ' _it's okay now, it's okay, you're safe now'_ , but still I could not quite figure it out. _It's right there…_

"Hello." Akira replied. He and Masashi stepped aside, and Shizuka quickly scrambled back over to my side, watching him with wary eyes. The man didn't say anything to us, but knelt down to put down his own flowers, carefully adjusting our bouquet so there was space, then remained there, just staring. Then, he looked back up at us.

"Those, you brought them?" he inquired.

"Yeah." Masashi answered him. The man nodded, and then, almost unbidden, an expression of realisation spread across his face as he studied us more closely.

"Ah, of course. Sorry, I didn't realise it sooner-though I suppose I should've." He shook his head. "You're the ones who escaped Hope's Peak. Kane's classmates."

 _Kane?_ That was not a nickname that I remembered hearing Kanekatsu ever being addressed by- _no, wait, didn't Tsukishima-san use it sometimes? But then….?_

"Do you….know…us?" I managed to ask. The man looked at me and prepared to answer, when Noriko unexpectedly interrupted.

"Wait, it isn't, is it?" Noriko squinted slightly as she stared the man down. "Takeuchi-sempai?"

"You _know_ him?" Masashi asked.

"Technically, we all do, a little bit." Noriko corrected, looking incredibly pleased with herself for having hit upon the answer. She was about to continue when the man stood up, brushing down his trousers.

"No, let me-though yes, you are right, we have met before, though under the circumstances I don't blame you if you don't recognise me from there." He laughed a little sadly.

"My name's Shin'ya Takeuchi. I was in the year above you at Hope's Peak high school. And…and before you all got trapped there, I was dating Kane."

* * *

 **Characters introduced this chapter:**

 **Dead**

 **Hironori Nobunaga, former SHSL First Aider (belongs to: RedEndz)**

 **The last scene, at Kanekatsu's grave, was going to be one big long scene, but then I decided to chop it in two, and continue it in the next chapter, giving the second part of the scene a different POV to keep things more interesting. And before anyone asks, Shin'ya is my own character. When I was given Kane's character, I was basically given the freedom to decide who the person she'd once fallen for had been, based on certain criteria given. She was one of the very first characters I accepted into my cast (actually, I think she may have been the very first one), so I was thinking of making it someone else in the cast, but then eventually nobody seemed to fit, so I made my own character. Shin'ya would have been in the year above them. You'll find out more about him (both in context of Kanekatsu and as a person on his own) in the next chapter, and also maybe in some very far-off Scraps of the Past chapters.**

 **Anyway, to explain the title. Since flowers featured in this, I figured it would be nice to have a floral title, and I have a bunch of webpages saved about the language of flowers from when I was writing Ending the End Class, so I thought of maybe incorporating that into here, too. Though I mention the webpages, in truth the resource I ended up using was a novel, called _'The Language of Flowers'_ by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. It has a dictionary of flowers in the back of it, so I used that to construct the title for this chapter, and for the next chapter too. The flowers themselves don't all feature in the different bouquets mentioned, but rather I picked them more for general meanings and how they relate to things mentioned in the chapter in some way. So anyway, here are the flowers and their meanings:**

 **Anemone- forsaken**

 **Marigold (calendula)-grief**

 **Raspberry-remorse**

 **Cowslip-Pensiveness**

 **And that's all for now, so yeah, as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave me feedback!**


	13. Chestnut, Periwinkle, Red Rose, Primrose

**Yep,a slightly earlier update than anticipated. But to be honest, for as long as possible, I'm trying to progress on this such that I can update at least once a week, or anything within the range of every five to ten days. Not sure how long I will be able to keep this up for, but hopefully I'll be able to ensure regular updates throughout most of the summer.**

 **Anyway, on with the chapter!**

* * *

 _Noriko_

There was a moment when the others just stared at him, all looking fairly astonished.

"Huh, what, you _remember_ him? From where?" Masashi asked. I was about to answer him when Akira piped up tentatively.

"Were…were you Foundation, by any chance?"

"Initially, yes. When they first formed…."

"Ah, okay. How long for?"

"Well….roughly until around the time you were all released from the hospital and put into Togami-san's care. There didn't seem to be any point in staying afterwards."

"Why not?" I asked. Shin'ya let out a breath, but didn't answer for a moment. I looked at him curiously, and eventually he gave in.

"I wanted to get you out. To get Kane out. I believed that she would still be able to get out, right until that moment when I saw you all run out of the building and she wasn't there with you. And honestly, in that moment, I wanted to turn around and give up, but I could hardly abandon the rest of you…so I held on until I knew you were all okay again, and then decided my role had come to an end. That's all. I….I'm sorry."

"That's nothing to be sorry about." Chieko said. Shin'ya looked over and nodded at her, and then his gaze travelled down to Shizuka, and his eyes widened in surprise before his expression softened out again.

"This must be the little one, then. Hello there." Shin'ya knelt down to Shizuka's height, but she hid behind Chieko's legs, eyes wide. Chieko put a hand on her head gently, but was still regarding Shin'ya with almost as much trepidation. Echoing the few memories I had of his personality, he didn't seem too phased by this, and instead smiled.

"It's fine. Now, ah…" he reached into the pockets of his jacket, and rummaged for a moment. "I'm not sure if I have any because I mostly keep them in the jar in my office….oh, no, here we go. There."

Shin'ya produced a small wrapped orange lollipop with a flourish, and held it out to Shizuka. Her eyes widened, and then hesitantly, reached out and grabbed it.

"Thank you." She said quietly, though she remained hiding as she slowly started to tackle the wrapping of the lollipop. Shin'ya smiled, and stood up again.

"What sort of job do you have that you have a jar of lollipops in your office?" Hokuto asked in curiosity.

"Paediatrician." He said simply.

"That was his title in Hope's Peak." I added. Masashi stared at me.

"Now are you going to tell me why you remember him?" he asked. "I don't remember knowing _any_ seniors, and apparently I did spend some time with a few, playing a few informal matches or whatever."

"Because of science, duh!"

It was only after I blurted that out that I realised that this wasn't an explanation at all. _Good job, Noriko!_ I cleared my throat exaggeratedly, and tried again.

"The science labs. I spent a lot of time there, even in the first two weeks. In fact, we both went to explore there on the first day."

"Both?" Chieko asked.

"Iwafusa-san and I, we went together to check out any and all of the science related facilities there. Takeuchi-sempai was in Class 77…which one was it again? B?" I checked, continuing on when he nodded. "Anyway, yeah, he was one of the seniors who showed us the ropes there."

"That's right. I was pretty excited, actually, at being a senior and the idea of helping a junior student, seeing who would join our group, such as it were. Edano-san was, well, you were the more memorable one really, the chatty one wearing two pairs of glasses, and an eye-watering amount of patterns-"

"My albinism _wasn't_ memorable?" I asked wryly, vaguely recalling one of the other seniors-who might have been a physicist of some sort-asking me if they were mistaken in assuming this about me. Shin'ya seemed non-plussed at that, but then shook his head and continued on.

"You essentially stole the show, but Kane…well, even then I wasn't sure if there was such a thing as love at first sight anyway, but….well, I was drawn to her, I guess, and I wasn't sure why. In any case, after a week, I decided to ask her out, and she said yes, and then I asked her if we could switch to addressing each other by first names, and she told me to just call her Kane in that case. And after that…we were happy.

I tried to get her out, you know, back when we were all just hostages and in the hall. But Yujiko-san, she tried to sneak Shiro-san out when Enoshima let our class go….but they were found out and nearly got hurt, and she was kept back in the end. So Kane wouldn't let me-ah, you wouldn't remember this, would you?"

Shin'ya paused abruptly at this, and rubbed his eyes tiredly. _He looks like us,_ I noted with some surprise. The expressions his face showed seemed a lot like the ones I saw on my fellow Survivors' faces.

"I forget that. I forget that detail, that you wouldn't remember that, even despite how terrifying it was. That Kane wouldn't even remember, if she had been able to survive….I'm sorry, you don't want to keep hearing this, do you?"

"Yes, we do." Chieko and Wakana looked at each other in surprise as they ended up saying this at the same time. Chieko inclined her head slightly, and Wakana continued.

"Of course we do. "She reassured. "We can't remember her ourselves, so you can help us to."

"Yeah, exactly."

It was true that we didn't remember the events that he had just alluded to, but we knew about it all the same. Knew about the day Hope's Peak had been taken hostage, every inhabitant of Hope's Peak rounded up and trapped in the assembly hall, as Enoshima told the world of her intentions and then according to her whims, gradually let everyone else out. Everyone else apart from us, since she had long ago decided that we were the ones she'd play her game with-though of course, back then there had been no real way to know that we had been selected in advance rather than on a whim. And then a week later, we had woken up in random places across the school, to barricaded doors and plated windows, believing that we had only spent two weeks in Hope's Peak.

The week between the hostage-taking and our awakening was not one that anybody could account for. The best guesses by the Future Foundation's investigative team, from what Akira had told us, was that we'd been contained in the classroom with the manacles and chains that we'd found when we'd been given access to the rest of the school, while Enoshima and the rest of the Big Five made the final preparations. And given that only one of the Big Five now survived, languishing in a high-security mental institution, we would likely never know.

 _Besides, when it gets to October, this gives me more to think about. More to remember._

"….thank you. " Shin'ya thought. "I….Kane was very serious. Very driven, and contemplative and incredibly knowledgeable. You could tell she'd worked a lot to learn what she knew now. She knew a lot about serial killers, which you'd expect from someone whose specialities was forensics, right? Ah, but she thought that others would find it weird, and so she didn't say that much about it. But she was compassionate too. Even though she found them fascinating, Kane didn't glorify the serial killers, and when it came to their victims, she always knew at least two small extra details about them that, when she talked about the serial killers, emphasised that the victims were more than victims-. She wasn't the greatest fan of small talk-I had to learn how to be comfortable in silence-and she preferred intelligent debate. But not just about forensics, or even any of the sciences, but _anything_.

That's why I think she made friends with Cain-san and Tsukishima-san, though she was a lot closer to Tsukishima-san. They were best friends, actually. When Kane wasn't with me, or in the labs, she was with her. And we hung out as a trio quite a lot, though I never could tell if poor Tsukishima-san felt as if she was a third wheel. I'm not surprised that they got on well even while you were all trapped, they were already getting on well by the second week, it was only a month or so later that it was basically set, that they were best friends. God, I could only imagine how Kane felt after she knew that Tsukishima-san been killed by mistake…"

" _Oh, for crying out loud, it wasn't meant to be her, anyway!" Oshiro suddenly snapped, fists clenching and unclenching restlessly as he stared us all down._

" _What do you mean by that?" Daisuke asked._

" _Exactly what I said. It wasn't meant to be Tsukishima at all! That was a mistake!"_

" _On what goddamn fucking planet is strangling someone and then slitting their throat a fucking accident?!" Masashi fumed._

" _I don't think that's what he's saying." Akira said quietly._

" _What is he saying then?" Hibiki asked._

" _Think he means that it wasn't Tsukishima-san specifically, he was tryin' to kill." Koutarou put in. We all looked at Oshiro, who glared at us._

" _Exactly! I wasn't worried about_ her _possibly figuring out my secret! Not that that matters anymore now anyway. Pfft."_

" _Fricking moron." Hideki sneered at him. We were used to this by now, so we just ignored him._

" _Then who were you targeting?" Kanekatsu asked, voice almost a whisper. Oshiro laughed bitterly, and then pointed straight at her._

" _It was you."_

"You stayed at the Foundation long enough to find out the specifics?" Masashi asked after the silence remained for a little too long. Shin'ya's gaze returned from the hazy point in the distance it had travelled to, and he looked at us guiltily, as if he'd forgotten about us completely.

"I watched the videos." He said, referring to the recordings that Enoshima had claimed were being made into a TV show broadcast to the world. Yet another lie, but not completely inaccurate. After all, she _had_ filmed us, all of us, for the entire time.

"What, all of them?" I asked.

"All of them. "He confirmed.

 _Woah._ I couldn't even imagine doing that. _Why would I want to watch it? I was there, that was bad enough._ Shin'ya gave me an odd look, and I realised I was rubbing at the scar on my forehead again, so I quickly held my hands behind my back and clasped them tightly.

"And then there was what Arata-kun did…that surprised me a little." He continued. "I'd talked to him a few times, he seemed a nice guy, but I never saw him looking at Kane that way. Maybe it was something that only developed when you were all thrown there, but…well, that surprised me, to be sure."

He laughed a little at this, a teary sound.

"It surprised all of us." Tyson told him.

"Yes, well….it was cruel. Kane believed that she would get out, I could see it on her face when my class left. She still believed she would get out, and I'm sure she would have thought the same even once the game started. That's why I didn't make a fuss, when she wouldn't let me try and sneak her out. Because I believed it too….I had no idea."

Unexpectedly, he knelt back down, and traced part of the lettering on the stone.

"It was my birthday, the day she died. The actual date, that is. It would have been the first birthday of mine that I'd celebrate with her-we'd celebrated her birthday back in December…there was a joint party, too, actually, because Oshiro-kun's birthday was the same, and that had been enjoyable….but yeah. It was my birthday. I'd been looking forward to that."

 _Oh, holy crap._ That was a detail that I hadn't known before. _That's rough._ He wiped his eyes roughly, and we all stood there, not too sure what to say.

"Takeuchi-sempai…"

"Ah, well. I appreciate it, you listening to me like this, but really, I'm sorry. You don't want to be listening to me talk all day…after all, what's my loss in comparison to yours? You were the ones trapped in there, I can't possibly understand how it felt, and yet here I am…"

 _Well…in a way he's right, but at the same time he's wrong. This is heavy…_

"You loved her?" Chieko asked. Shin'ya frowned at her.

"Of course I did."

"Then, that's fine, isn't it?"

Shin'ya searched for something to say, but at that moment there was a rumbling, and we all turned to look at Hokuto, who grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, that was my stomach."

"Yeah, actually, I'm starting to get a bit hungry too." Wakana said.

"And me." Shizuka reminded us earnestly, pulling her partially eaten lollipop out of her mouth to do so.

"In which case, we'd better make a move. It was good to meet you, Takeuchi-sempai." Akira said, inclining his head slightly.

"You, too." Shin'ya said, standing up again. "Thank you and- "

"Ah, wait." Tyson stepped forward, and handed the large bag he had been holding over to Shin'ya, who took it with some trepidation.

"What is it?"

"A painting, of Iwafusa. Please, take it."

"Ah…wouldn't you want to give this to her parents?"

"No, no, it's for you."

Well, we _had_ originally been planning to track down her parents and give it to them after leaving, since we knew they lived relatively nearby, but Tyson had apparently decided it was best to not mention that. And indeed, Shin'ya's face seemed to have brightened as he reached into the bag and pulled out the package. He held it and studied it from all angles, and then made quick work of the brown paper. It fell at his feet as he looked at the painting, but he didn't say anything, and his expression had become unreadable. Eventually though, he looked over the top of the frame to regard us.

"Again, thank you. "He said softly. "And…I wish you all well."

"Likewise." Tyson said, before bowing slightly. We left after that, walking away in silence. And when I turned back, Shin'ya was still standing there, looking at the painting.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

We found a small hamburger place not too far from where Akira had parked that morning, and though it was crowded given that it was lunchtime, we still managed to find a large booth that we could fit in somewhat comfortably. A friendly enough waitress came by to give us menus, and made some vague small talk. But then she looked between Shizuka and me, and I could practically _feel_ the way her thoughts were now forming.

"Anyway, we have a kids' menu as well, so you could get something there for your…your daughter?"

"Yes." I said, shortly. The smile didn't disappear, but it did seem to thin out slightly, and I knew what she was thinking. _Irresponsible teenager._ To be fair to her, I _could_ have been projecting, but it had happened often enough that I almost had a sense for it now.

"Well." She subtly turned her head away. "I'll leave you to decide now. "

"What was _her_ problem?" Apparently, Masashi had noticed the same chilliness, and glared daggers as the waitress as she swiftly went to another table to gather their plates.

"It happens." I shrugged. Masashi spluttered.

"What do you mean, it happens?"

"Just that. It's not exactly the done thing, having a child while still only a teenager, is it? I might have been the same, if I hadn't been in that situation."

"But!" Masashi protested. "They don't know the circumstances, do they? You didn't do anything _wrong_!"

"It's not really like she'd want any random stranger to know what happened, now, would she?" Akira asked.

"But..."

"It's fine, really. I'm used to it," I said, smiling. "As long as they don't say anything to Shizuka, it's fine."

 _And sometimes it's enough work getting from day to day. I don't think I'd manage if I took all the little moments like this to heart._

Shizuka looked up at the mention of her name, and I smiled at her, grateful that she hadn't noticed anything amiss.

"Have you decided what you want to eat?"

"Not yet. "

"It's still not right." Masashi insisted heatedly.

"Ah, just drop it." Noriko said. Masashi pulled a rather hideous face at her, but picked up his menu, and did indeed drop it. I started to read through my own menu, but then I looked back up over it.

"But thank you, Kita-kun."

It was important to me that I said that. Back then, when I had first found out that I was expecting Shizuka, the news had knocked me sideways. But it had never been a decision to make, keeping her. Calling it a fact or an inevitability wasn't quite right, but I wasn't sure how else to word it, even in my own mind. She might have been an unforeseen and unintended consequence of a moment of physical comfort, but not a mistake or an unfortunate occurrence, nothing like that. So there had never been a decision to make. Once I knew about her, she was always going to exist.

But yet, even with how kind everyone around me had been (even if some of them might have been disapproving on the inside), for weeks, they'd all talked to me in terms of a decision. Even my own family would ask me 'are you sure this is what you want to do?', 'what are the other options?' all that sort of thing. With the possible exception of Andou (and by extension, Izayoi), the only people who had seemed to understand straight away that there was no such thing had been the people I was with now, my fellow Survivors. I still had not figured out how it was they could understand, but understand they did.

 _And I'll be forever grateful._

"Uh, erm…pfft, well," Masashi blushed furiously. "It's no issue. People shouldn't be jerks, is all."

"That was kind of you, deciding to give the painting to Takeuchi-sempai instead." Wakana addressed Tyson, thankfully changing the subject.

"He was a loved one of her too, wasn't he?" Tyson replied. "It seemed like the right thing to do."

"He seemed pretty down, though." Hokuto said.

"Graveyards are kind of melancholy by nature, though. Of course he would seem that way." Wakana pointed out.

"No, that's not what I meant, I mean he seems…." Hokuto waved her hands around randomly, looking for the word.

"Devastated!" she eventually proclaimed.

"Hmmm." Akira considered this, as did the others. I found myself nodding. Shin'ya had indeed seemed devastated. I had not met him during the first two weeks of Hopes' Peak, and if I had met him afterwards I obviously did not know, but even comparing the young man who had bundled me into an ambulance once we had escaped to the person we had seen today…he was another person whose world had been utterly, utterly ripped apart by Enoshima. _I'm glad she got crushed by rubble. I hope she's languishing in hell._

"I got the impression that he was sort of lonely, actually." Wakana said.

"Lonely?" I asked.

"Kind of like…" Wakana paused. "Like he's never really talked about it before?"

"Talking is over-rated though. Talk this, talk that." Noriko disagreed. "Sometimes it feels like that's put forward as the solution to everything."

"Well, not to any old person, sure." Masashi responded. "But like, for example, you guys, I don't mind so much."

"Yes, that's right. I mean, I don't disagree with Edano's sentiment as such." Tyson said. "But some people _do_ want to talk about it, don't they? They find it helpful."

"This is true." Akira commented. "Actually, all of it's true."

"That makes it more confusing, surely." I shook my head in amusement. Though he was right.

"It's what connects us, though, so it's natural that we would talk about it a lot, but it's because of that I find it kind of reassuring to talk." Wakana added. "But yeah, I think Takeuchi-sempai probably doesn't have anything like that, and he probably needs it."

We were silent for a moment as we considered this, and then Noriko sighed and stretched.

"Hey, Kazama-kun, can we go home after this?" she asked tiredly.

Akira tilted his head at this. We had been planning to go to Hibiki's grave after lunch, stopping on the way to buy some flowers for her. But now I was thinking about it, I was tired too. Shin'ya's pain had almost been a solid thing, to reach out and feel. It had sapped something from me. It would be nice to go back instead, perhaps sleep or at least recharge. But it somehow didn't feel fair if it was me asking.

"Alright," he said eventually. "We can visit Hibiki early in the morning. We've got time before we have to meet Takashima-san and Yamaguchi-san tomorrow."

"Thanks." Noriko said, relieved. It was at that moment the waitress arrived to take our orders, so we put aside the topic and concentrated on lunch.

…

 _Tyson_

" _What's happened?"_

 _We all rushed into the laundry room and looked around. It didn't take very long for us to spot Daisuke lying on the ground, face down, in a pool of his own blood. And then, some feet away, Wakana, looking as if she had dropped where she was standing. Hokuto shrieked and covered her mouth in horror._

" _Two of them?" I asked, dismayed._

" _It seems so." Akira replied, lowering his head in sadness for a moment. Masashi swore, while Erica began busily writing in her notebook. I slanted a disgusted look at the historian, but didn't pursue it. Her habit had helped us in past trials, so hopefully it would help us in this one, too._

" _No, wait. " Chieko surprised us all by holding up a hand, motioning for us to be silent. We did so, and after a few moments, we could hear the quiet sounds of breathing, coming from Wakana._

" _She's alive." Noriko half-whispered._

" _Of course, that makes sense. She must have been the one who screamed! Duh!" Masashi realised. "So…what are we gonna do?"_

" _How about some of us keep an eye on her until she wakes up, then the rest of us start the investigation-_

" _Upupu! Attention, everyone! Another body has been discovered! After a short amount of time for the investigation, the class trial will commence!"_

 _Akira stopped and glared up in the general direction of the announcement, but when it stopped and Monokuma did not suddenly appear in front of us to impart some other so-called gem of wisdom, he shook his head and continued._

" _Like I said, some of us look after Abe-san, then the rest of us should really get a start on the investigation."_

" _I'll look after her!" Hokuto volunteered. Chieko nodded._

" _I'll divide my time between both places, I suppose…" even with her hesitation, she sounded more assertive than she had done for days. It was good to see, even under such horrible, horrible circumstances._

 _And so we split up, Akira and Erica kneeling over the body and examining it, while Masashi and Noriko looked around the rest of the crime scene, and I looked for something that we could cover Daisuke with-which turned out to be a surprisingly hard job despite the fact we were in the laundry room. But something was niggling at me. There was something missing from the situation, but I was still reeling, and I couldn't get past that to figure out what it wa-_

" _Guys, it's all good, she's alive!" Hokuto suddenly yelled out, and I turned to see her kneeling in front of Wakana, who had indeed sat up._

" _Ho-Chi, that's not funny! But, oh, thank goodness!" Chieko instantly went over, and I returned my attention to wracking my brain for what was wrong with this set up-apart from the obvious of Daisuke being dead-while still looking for a sheet. Eventually, I found an off-white bedsheet that hadn't yet been washed but didn't look obviously dirty, and so I carried it over to cover him, checking first that Akira had finished his examination._

Kazama doing the investigation. Wait, what about- _Just as the thought formed, my attention was dragged away._

" _That's Daisuke-Chan's job!"_

 _I hadn't been paying too much attention to the conversation that Wakana and Chieko had been having, though I was of course aware that the latter needed to break the news to the former, but I whipped around to see Wakana looking at me in utter shock, stricken. Immediately, I rushed over._

" _Abe, Ma'am! I'm sorry." Once I was there, I didn't know what to say, or what to do, so I just stood there, helpless as I watched Wakana try to make sense of this. I left Chieko to do the comforting._

" _Y-you're sorry? So, you mean that…Daisuke-Chan's really….?"_

" _Yes, Abe, Ma'am. Unfortunately, Ueno has become another unfortunate victim to this atrocious game." I stated, hating how stiff that sounded-had I always sounded this uncaring?_

 _No…..that doesn't make sense….Daisuke-Chan….." Wakana's eyes started to tear up as she pulled away from Chieko and struggled to get up. "Daisuke-Chan, dead? That's not right, it can't be. It can't be!"_

 _I opened my mouth, looking for something comforting to say, but I could not, and I could only watch in devastation as Wakana ended up back on her knees, as Chieko hugged her._

" _I….I can't, I can't…..this isn't fair. Not Daisuke-Chan….why….?" At this point, any other words she might have had dissolved in tears._

" _Wait, what's happening?" Noriko, Hokuto and Masashi came over, as did Erica and Akira._

" _She's crying." Erica said with some wonder. Masashi snorted._

" _Of course she's crying, you dipshit."_

" _Not what I'd expected from her, but you're right, it is understandable, given that they were friends and all." Erica continued blithely._

" _Is she alright?" Akira asked, sounding as unsure of how to proceed as I felt. Chieko looked up slightly at this and nodded slightly._

" _It's okay. She will be. I'll look after her." She mouthed._

" _By the way, where is Iwafusa-Chan?" Hokuto asked suddenly._ Ah. Ah, there it is. _That was what was wrong. Kanekatsu wasn't here. Come to think of it, she hadn't even been with us when we'd heard Wakana's screaming and we all came down here._

" _That…is a very good question…" Akira realised. "You don't think she could be…?"_

" _Oh, fuck." Masashi burst out suddenly. "That trail…."_

" _Oh god, no. It can't be!" Noriko exclaimed, apparently realising the same thing_

 _He suddenly whipped around and ran, looking at the ground as he did so, Noriko following. It didn't take long to realise that they were following a trail of blood, and it didn't take that long to follow it around the corner to the laundry room's small alcove, either._

" _Upupu! Attention, everyone! Another body has been discovered! After a short amount of time for the investigation, the class trial will commence!"_

 _It was Kanekatsu. Sitting on the ground, her arms held up and tied to a rafter above her with a ratty length of rope, her legs tied together with another, as though she was a prisoner. Her head drooping, strands of hair escaping from the bun it was usually tied in, hiding her face. And her once-pristine lab coat almost completely dark red, some parts still glistening-wet, others dried and thickened, seeming to weigh her down even more._

" _Fuck." Masashi said simply. "Fucking hell. Oh, god."_

" _How…?" Noriko tried to say. "When, and how….?"_

 _Mindful of the blood-not to mention the scene in general, how disappointed she would be if we messed up the scene-I stepped forward and knelt down to look at her, brushing away the strands of hair to see her face. Unsurprisingly, her face was forever frozen in a painful expression, but at least her eyes were closed. Not having a clue about hairstyles, I made some effort to tidy her hair a little. And right there and then, I decided that as soon as we could, I would be the one to cut her down and cover her, give back just a little of her dignity._

" _That's what we shall have to find out." Akira answered Noriko in trepidation._ Indeed we shall, _I realised sadly. It was up to us now, and we would have to do our best in order to do right by both of them._

" _Rest now, solider." I murmured, before getting up again and waiting to find out what should be done next._

I woke up struggling for breath as I shot up, putting my hand over my chest to feel my heart beating violently. Had I screamed? My throat felt hoarse as it usually did, but I did not hear the echoes of it ringing in my head as I tended to. _Oh, god._ I only hoped that nobody had heard this time. _I should have just tried to stay awake again like I did last night._

"De Guerre-Chan? Are you alright?" the soft voice seemed to almost float through the bedroom door.

 _So it's Wakana this time, huh?_ I sighed. Clearly hoping that I'd gone unheard would be wishful thinking. I'd have to say something to everyone in the morning.

"I'm fine, thank you, Wakana, Ma'am." I managed. There was a hesitation, and then Wakana let out an audible breath.

"You had a nightmare though, right? Are you sure?"

"Ah, I'm sorry if I disturbed you…"

"There's no such thing. " Wakana said, which surprised me. "What I want to know is if you're alright."

I wasn't sure what to say about that, so I didn't. The silence continued, and then Wakana spoke up again.

"Well, I'm not going back to sleep anyway, so if you want some company or something, I'm just sort of sitting around here."

"Ah…"

I hesitated again. _Should I?_ I supposed it was better than sitting here alone, trying to manage myself. So I got up, found my slippers, and then slipped out of my room.

Wakana was sitting on the floor next to my door, and I stood in front of her. She looked up at me and gave me a small smile, and for a moment I found myself thinking of the moment that I had been dreaming of. But then, Wakana got up.

"Why aren't you going back to sleep?" I found myself asking. Wakana shrugged, and gazed off into the distance.

"I just generally don't sleep."

"I see."

"So…do you want to go down, get some milk or something to drink?" she asked, looking back at me.

I considered this. I recalled Akira saying something similar to me on the first night, which would suggest that he wouldn't mind if we did indeed do that.

"Alright then." I said. We were suddenly startled by the sound of another door opening, and we looked to see Noriko blearily step out of her room. Though she was wearing her glasses, it seemed to take her a moment to focus her gaze.

"Ah, it's you guys nattering on. What are you doing up?" she whispered curiously.

"Battling insomnia. We're going to get something to drink." Wakana answered. "Do you want to join us?"

"Sure."

 **…**

"I see…" Noriko nodded carefully at this as she sipped at her milk. "That must suck, huh."

"Well, that's one way of putting it. But I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

"No, that's nothing to apologise for. Don't we all have things like that?" Noriko asked.

"I think we do." Wakana agreed. I nodded at this. It was true, we all had something like that. But, that didn't mean I should just let it be. It wasn't fair to expect someone else to take on our own burdens too, especially ones like what we all came with. That was something I did wonder about-hostage situations had always occurred, in one way or another, but how many people could have said that they'd been in a situation such as this one? I suspected there were no statistics that told you how many people got caught in killing games inside elite schools each year, how many lost their lives to such killing games.

Yet, what did statistics matter, when the tragedy had happened to you?

We sat in silence after that, the stillness of the night punctuated only with the sounds of us finishing the milk. I finished first, and leant back in my seat as I waited for the girls to finish. Noriko was the next one to finish, and something seemed to occur to her, because she leant forward and grinned at us.

"Hey, let's have a midnight feast."

"What?"

"A midnight feast. "She repeated, grinning wider. Wakana and I exchanged a look, and I shrugged. I had no idea where the idea had come from, but I suddenly remembered the third or fourth day of Hope's Peak, when Noriko had come in with two large trays of colourfully-decorated cupcakes from a nearby bakery because they'd been half-price and she'd just felt like 'buying them to share'. Every single one of us had had a cupcake during the first lessons of the day, including Yukizome, and then Noriko had taken some to the other class. _Ah, no._

No, that wasn't entirely true. It hadn't just been Noriko passing them around. Shiro had taken four to pass onto her siblings, and Kanekatsu had quietly taken an extra for someone who I now realised must have been Shin'ya. From what he'd told us, they probably hadn't been a couple then, but suddenly the memory made sense, now that we'd met him and listened to him. Whenever I'd thought of this before, I'd always wondered why Kanekatsu would hoard a cupcake. _And now I know something about her that I didn't know before._

"…like the one we were trying to have before?" Wakana asked carefully, pulling me out of my thoughts. Noriko winced.

"Well, in the most technical sense, except we're in the actual kitchen, and we're in Akira-kun's house, so it's fine…" Noriko's gaze travelled to the door, and then back to us.

"It is fine, right?" she asked.

"I don't see why it isn't?" I ventured. _Why does it matter?_ And then it hit me-that's what they'd been planning on doing before Hibiki had died. All of the girls, together. It hadn't been clear whose idea it was, but I knew nobody had objected-after all, with that many people together, nothing could have gone wrong. _Or so we had thought_.

"It would have been fun, to actually be able to have a midnight feast. " Wakana mused. "Do you think we ever did, before we were captured?"

"I don't think we'll ever know." Noriko said.

"So let's do one now." Wakana decided. "Since we didn't get the chance to before."

 _Midnight feasts, huh? What other experiences did we have stolen from us?_

"It does sound like fun." I said. "But, what will be do about the food we take?"

"Ah, psh, we can just replace it afterwards, right?" Noriko asked, already getting up and going towards the fridge. "We'll tell him afterwards, by which I mean tomorrow. "

"And I'm sure there's a supermarket somewhere nearby, that we can go to. "Wakana pointed out. I nodded slowly at this, and then got up.

"Alright then, let's do it."

"Yesss!" Noriko beamed.

We all searched the cupboards and the fridge-though only the places that it was easy to open quietly, and piled the different snacks on the table. Noriko somehow found paper plates, so we decided to use those as well. I cleaned out the milk glasses and refilled them with water, and then we gathered back around the table to eat. We chatted a little bit while eating, but not all that much, and this was much the same even as we eventually finished and then cleared up everything. The atmosphere was merry though, and somehow I felt floatier, more at ease. For some reason, I found myself believing that if I did go back to sleep tonight, I would actually be able to sleep.

Yet I could not help but imagine. Imagine what could have been, if the original midnight feast had gone as it should have, all those years ago.

* * *

 **Wakana's assessment of Shin'ya being lonely is about right. He's somehow pulled himself together to become an actual qualified paediatrician, but that's about it as far as normal human functioning goes. He still thinks about Kane every day, and mourns her incredibly deeply, and hasn't really been able to get support for his grief. Anyway, as far as his history with Hope's Peak and the Future Foundation go, he was the SHSL Paediatrician of Class 77B, and then when he joined the Foundation he was one of the frontline medical staff, and was there to rescue the Survivors when they escaped from the collapsing school building. He left the foundation well before Akira joined.**

 **Anyway, one thing I wanted to point out was Oshiro. He isn't completely introduced in this chapter (as it happens, with how I have things planned I am hoping that the chapter after the next one will be where he is introduced properly, but that remains to be seen), but I just wanted to mention there is a specific reason I am referring to him by his surname in-text instead of first names like the other class members. That reason will be revealed in due time, but I thought it was worth mentioning,.**

 **The flowers used in this chapter's title and their meanings are:**

 **Primrose-childhood**

 **Chestnut-do me justice**

 **Red Rose-love**

 **Periwinkle-tender recollections**

 **So yeah, as always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please do leave me feedback!**


	14. The Weight of a Heart

**I named this chapter after a Camellia song that has the same name. There are a lot of awesome chorus covers of this song done as entries in various chorus battles. But anyway, let's get on with it!**

* * *

 _Akira_

I opened the fridge, and just gawped for a moment. Slowly reaching for two eggs, I held one in each hand, and then turned to look at Wakana, who was busy pulling out pans.

"Why is the fridge so empty?" I asked, not really expecting an answer. To my surprise though, Wakana's mouth curved up in a slight smile.

"We had a midnight feast. Myself, De Guerre-Chan and Noriko-Chan."

"…"

I slowly put the two eggs down on the kitchen counter, then turn back to the fridge, and stare at what's left.

" _Hey, Rika-Chin, we're gonna have a midnight feast! Great idea, right?!" Hibiki bounced._

" _Who is 'we', where are you going to have it, and how are you going to get food during night-time, when the kitchen is closed off?" I asked. "Not to mention, why?"_

 _Hibiki pouted theatrically at me, but then sighed and obliged, counting the questions off on her fingers as she answered each one._

" _All of us girls, in Iwafusa-san's room, since she has tea for some reason, but anyway, we're collecting the food in advance, so I'm gonna do that later, and also, because it's a fun thing to do. That, and….well, Chieko-Chan and Noriko-Chan thought it might cheer us up a little bit, after this morning…"_

 _Hibiki's cheerfulness tapered off, and I knew what she was thinking of. The possibility that very soon, Mum and Dad and Yasu would be getting tortured, just as we had seen Yukizome get tortured this morning. Monokuma had promised that it would be so, but none of us wanted to believe it. Even so, I knew that the horrific sight of it, the sound of Yukizome's screams, all would be engraved in our minds for days and possibly weeks, maybe even years._ No, I don't want to believe it. _I sighed, and Hibiki tilted her head in confusion._

" _Is that a bad idea, Rika-Chin?" she asked me anxiously. I shook my head._

" _No, no, I think that's a good idea. It's good to keep together, I think. Will you be alright getting food by yourself though?"_

" _Yeah, of course!" Hibiki lit up again. "I mean, even if there isn't good stuff in the kitchen, there's that humungous storage room, right? There'll be stuff there! Anyway, it's still too early now, so I'm gonna look after dinner, just before night-time, makes sense, right?"_

" _Yes, it does." I nodded. "But, is there anything you need me to do?"_

" _Hmmm….maybe you could get my pyjamas and whatever from my room and bring it to me just before we go to Iwafusa-san's room? I mean, you can't come because Noriko-Chan insisted it was girls' only, but…."_

" _Yes, sure." I said easily. It would allow me to check in on her before we went to sleep, then at least I'd be able to sleep easy tonight knowing that she'd be safe with that many people around. No chance of anyone trying to kill when all gathered like that._

" _Yayyyyyy!" Ecstatic, Hibiki jumped at me and almost strangled me with an enthusiastic hug._

I stepped back from the fridge and closed it.

"You had a midnight feast?" I asked slowly. It took me all I had to not deflate and lean against the fridge.

"Yup, we did." At this point, Noriko walked in. "It was probably a bit cheeky of us _,_ but we did kinda pillage the kitchen a bit in the process as well. We can re-pay you, though. Perhaps we'll go to the shops later and we'll get stuff."

"No, that's not a problem as such, I was starting to think I'd need to go shopping again soon anyway, since some things we've ended up running low on." I replied. _Think of it in those terms, just those terms._ "Once we've finished with visiting Hibiki, and passing over the painting of Arata-san, we can go to the supermarket and stock up."

"But we should at least reimburse you." Wakana insisted. I looked between the both of them carefully.

"We'll figure out the details of that later." I decided firmly. "And…I forgot to take out more eggs."

I briskly opened the fridge, pulled out the last three eggs, and gave them to Wakana to fry, and then I closed it again and searched the freezer for bacon and sausages, which I promptly gave to Wakana before then going to the cupboard where I kept the bread, and pulling out the loaf currently in use. There were only a couple of slices left, so I took down an unused loaf as well.

The others came down, and we exchanged the usual good mornings. Tyson collected a plate of eggs and bacon came up to me as I was toasting bread.

"Do you want some?" I asked, holding up a slice.

"No, I think this will be fine. Did Wakana and Edano tell you about our midnight feast?" he asked.

"Yes, they did. " I confirmed. "If you're worried about being an imposition, don't. I've already said that we can figure out the details of replacing the things anyway."

"Yep, that's right." Noriko chimed in, overhearing as she took her own breakfast to the table and started chatting with Chieko and Shizuka.

"Alright then." Tyson nodded, and then went over to the table and sat down. When everybody had gotten their breakfasts and we were all seated, we all started to eat. I noticed Tyson look around at us with some trepidation, but just as I was about to speak up, he ended up doing so.

"Um…this'll probably come off a bit strange to you, but if I've woken you up the past few nights, or I end up doing so…I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about that."

"Wake us up? What are you talking about?" Hokuto asked in confusion.

Wakana and I exchanged a discreet look, but we both had the same idea of waiting for Tyson to explain instead.

"I have nightmares." He said slowly. "A lot of the time, in these nightmares, I end up screaming. It can be quite loud."

"Well, I happen to sleep like a log anyway so nothing like that happens to me, but I get them too, so it isn't such a big deal. I mean, I'm sure we've all had them." Masashi declared almost immediately.

"Yes, of course." Wakana agreed.

"I haven't…." Shizuka piped up slightly anxiously. Chieko laughed nervously.

"No, I know. It's just us grown-ups who have the nightmares."

"That's horrible." Shizuka said, aghast. She looked at all of us, but none of us were willing to provide an explanation, though Chieko was clearly poised to scramble for one. But though she continued to frown over this revelation, she didn't pursue it, instead attacking her eggs with increased gusto.

"Ah, careful, Shizuka." Chieko cautioned before looking over to Tyson. "It's alright. It's understandable, De Guerre-kun. "

"Yeah, of course. We'll deal with it, if we get woken up. It isn't your problem." Noriko added.

"And if you need to walk it off around the house, or drink some milk, or even just sit in the garden or something, that's perfectly fine." I told him.

Tyson considered this, and then nodded really slowly. I couldn't quite pinpoint it, but there was something more relieved about his demeanour as he processed all of this.

"Thank you." He said simply.

After that, we discussed our plans for the day, including the shopping that needed to be done later on. Once everyone had finished eating, Chieko and Tyson went to do the washing up (with Shizuka helping them out), and we handed over our plates and cups to them while the others went up to grab the bits they needed for the day.

Once I'd handed my cup and plate over, I lingered at the fridge, where we'd stuck up the scribbled notes we'd made about our plans. Looking at it, it occurred to me that we hadn't put anything down about visiting Yukizome. In fact, none of us had mentioned it.

" _Upupupu! What did you think of that wonderful show, then?"_

 _Many of us jumped back in shock, Hibiki and Hokuto letting out shrieks while others gasped, as somehow, Monobear appeared from the other side of the fence and appeared in front of us, still equipped with top hat and cane. Somehow, it seemed the evil side of his face was grinning even more widely now._

" _Stop fucking around with us!" Masashi snarled._

" _That can't have possibly been real…." Kimihiro said, looking ashen._

" _Pfft, ungrateful brats. I go to all this trouble to put on this wonderful production and you all just stand around screaming and asking me to stop! Why, Abe-san even threw up!"_

" _That was low, Monobear." Daisuke said stiffly, momentarily taking his eyes off of a very grey looking Wakana to give the bear an incredibly cold look._

" _Upupu, whatever! You're just too young to appreciate good torture art when you see it, but anyway…." Monobear made a proclaiming gesture with his arms. "Are you able to figure out the meaning behind it? You should be able to, being SHSL students and all."_

" _A threat." Kanekatsu said instantly._

" _You're trying to coerce us into something we don't want to do." Erica said at the exact same time. They gave each other surprised looks, and then Erica burst out into giggles._

" _Well," she shrugged. "I suppose both are correct anyway."_

 _I looked over to where Yukizome had just been, and noted the drops of blood on the floor. If we were to come back here, would those be wiped away? Or would they still be there, a reminder of some sort._

" _Quit this, psycho bear, I want to go back to sleep." Hideki muttered._

" _That's seriously all you can say?! Yukizome-sensei just…." Noriko started to tear into Hideki, but couldn't finish her sentence._

" _Awuuu…." Monobear visibly drooped, causing Chieko to make a snarky comment about how he looked like a dehydrated plant…which, surprisingly, he didn't seem to notice. "I did so hope you'd be putting your minds to this puzzle…never mind, though, time is of the essence, after all! So, anyway!"_

 _Monobear perked up again, and his red eye glinted._

" _Do you remember those lovely little videos I prepared for you, to kick all of this off?"_

" _The ones of our families and loved ones?" Daisuke asked._

" _And a point goes to the conductor! Yup. Well, I'm sure those left you all wondering, what's happened to them, where did they go, all of that nonsense, right, right? Weeelll, the answer is…nothing yet, for now."_

" _Nothing?! So you mean Nobunaga-kun killed Shiro-Chan for no reason?!" Hibiki burst out._

" _Technically, he killed for the opposite reason those videos were supposed to trigger." Kanekatsu corrected, with some distaste at the thought._

" _Oh blah, blah, blah!" Monobear pretended to yawn. "That's not the point! The point is, you know what's gonna happen to them."_

" _What ya did to Yukizome-sensei, yer gonna do to our families." Koutarou spat out through gritted teeth. I looked at him in utter surprise, but when Monobear burst out into laughter._

" _Yes, exactly! In a few days' time, that is exactly what I will be doing to those important people who I videoed for you. And, I'll be making sure you get front-seat tickets to that show, as well. Of course, if one of you were to kill another classmate in time…."_

 _Monobear deliberately left that hanging, and all we could do was stare. But I was sure that we all knew what he was implying. If we killed, then we would not have to watch our families getting tortured in front of our eyes. If one of us killed, we would not even need to fear that happening._

" _Upupu, well, I'll let you all think about that. Now, scram back upstairs and do whatever it is teenagers do when they're bored."_

 _With that, Monobear waddled away and soon disappeared._

I knew there was a pen in my pocket, and my hand went to reach for it, curling around it and hesitating. Should I put something down? I looked over at Chieko and Tyson, washing the plates. I would obviously need to ask with them, and everybody else. But should I ask now? We still had a few paintings to give out-Kimihiro's today, and then Oshiro's and Yashiro's, which would probably take a couple of days at least.

 _Would they want to?_

I knew that we all still cared about Yukizome, a lot. She had been a good teacher to us, even if most of our memory of that had been stolen. She'd made a difference to us. And it had been awful, not being able to help her as she was hurt before our very eyes. But I knew that it was those very reasons that would make it difficult for them to see her, after all these years.

 _No, not now._

I took my hand out of my pocket, and moved away from the fridge, leaving the kitchen and making my way upstairs. We'd sort out the paintings first, and then I'd phone Munakata and see whether Yukizome would even be up to receiving so many visitors. And then I would decide what to ask the others.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

"Yo, Hibiki-tan, look who I've brought with me."

Masashi broke the silence we'd been in all the way to Hibiki's grave stone, and even grinned. Akira managed to smile.

"I suppose you weren't expecting me until the end of the month now, were you, Hibiki? But the others wanted to see you." He continued on.

"Yup, yup!" Hokuto said, Noriko and Wakana chiming in with something similar. Apparently, they'd become used to talking to the dead now, and when Tyson gave his own greeting as he laid down the flowers, I searched for something to say, myself.

"I'm sorry."

The others turned to look at me, and even Shizuka glanced up worriedly.

"Are you okay, Chieko-Chan?" Wakana asked me. I nodded automatically, but in truth, I was not entirely sure. Akira narrowed his eyes at me, and considered me carefully. I held my breath to see what he would say.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." He said with determination. He turned and looked deliberately at Hibiki's gravestone.

"Right? You'd be pretty annoyed to think that I'd once thought such a thing, wouldn't you? Akamine-san didn't do anything, she's got nothing to be sorry for."

I let out a breath and attempted a smile of my own, to show that I acknowledged what he had said. But it strained at me, as I could not help but think of Hibiki as I'd seen her last, dead on the kitchen floor, the marks of what I'd later learn was Koutarou's belt clear around her neck, the snacks she'd been collecting for our midnight feast abandoned on the counter.

 _But Koutarou did something, and has everything to be sorry for._

"Mummy, should I say something to the dead person?" Shizuka asked me, looking utterly baffled.

"That's my sister." Akira stepped in before I could scold her. "Her name was Hibiki. Shall I introduce you to her?"

Shizuka hesitated, hugging Yosa close to her, and looked at me. With no other words, I just indicated that it was fine, and so she went over to Akira, who put a hand on her shoulder and pointed.

"I'm sure you've been wondering who this is, right? So, Shizuka, this is Hibiki Kazama, my twin sister. And Hibiki, this is Shizuka Akamine, Akamine-san's daughter. "

"Yes, that's right." I confirmed.

"Um, hello, Hibiki-san!" Shizuka blurted out. "It's nice to meet you."

There was a pause, then she turned back and came to me, clinging to my trousers and hiding her face. Masashi chipped in at this point, telling Hibiki about how we had all met up, how we were staying in Akira's house and the different things we'd been up to. I listened, of course, but I left it up to the others to say something. All I could think of was how I should have mentioned that Shizuka was not just my daughter, but Koutarou's too, yet at the same time it didn't seem right.

Because though I was sure that Akira was right in that Hibiki would have been mad to know that he had indeed once (understandably) blamed me, I couldn't imagine what she'd think about something like that.

 **…**

 _Wakana_

I ended up being assigned as the unofficial lookout when we got to the park and found a bench to sit down on. It made sense, after all, since I was the only one who would recognise them, even if my last encounter with them had been relatively brief, and many years ago.

" _Abe-san, are you going to come to join us?"_

 _I turned to see one of my cellists waiting with a few other members of the orchestra. I knew that they were all going in little groups to 'hit the town', so to speak. And so they should. The performance had gone well, better than I could have ever hoped for what would always be such a personal song. But I was not yet at that point, to be going and celebrating. Not yet. Not when I was grappling with the paradox of wishing that Daisuke and everyone else had been here to celebrate with me, but that 'The Songbird's Lament' would never have existed if I hadn't lost him in the first place. So I did my best to smile, and shook my head._

" _I'm sorry." I refused apologetically. "I'm kind of tired after the performance, I think I'm going to head home and go to bed."_

" _Ah, sure, sure." The cellist said. She scrutinised me a little closer, no doubt looking for the traces of the tears I had shed on the stage, but I didn't let her see that had gotten to me._

" _Well then, good night, Abe-san."_

 _The others also bid me goodnight, and I waved to them, and watched as they left. Then, I turned and looked at the concert hall, wrapping my jacket around myself though it wasn't even cold. We'd packed everything away, I'd changed and had all my things together. Now, it was time to go home._

" _Um, are you Abe-san?"_

 _I didn't recognise the feminine, slightly monotone voice, and turned to see three people my age standing there under the streetlights, looking hesitant. Two boys, and a girl, all of them still slightly red-eyed, though the girl and the boy with the messy blond hair seemed like they had been crying slightly more than their companion. Seeing them didn't clarify anything, though, apart from the fact they must have been at the concert._

" _Yes, I am. Is there anything I can do for you?"_

" _Yeah." The blond boy spoke up. "We just wanted to thank you. "_

" _Thank me?"_

" _For the piece." The girl clarified, the tone of her voice a contradiction to the emotion of her voice. "The Songbird's Lament. We could hear him in it, you see."_

I sighed and leaned back against the bench, and then I noticed someone walking towards where we were all sitting. Since they were alone, I didn't think anything of it, until they got closer and I instantly recognised Haruna, though her hair was a bit longer than it had been when I'd met her on that night. I lifted up a hand, though it was a bit redundant, and she hurried the whole way over.

"Hello," she said, still somewhat monotone. "I see you've brought the whole gang."

"Yeah…." Technically, it wasn't all of us, since Chieko was sitting at a bench closer to the playground, watching Shizuka play. But she was still close enough to hear and see the rest of us, so I indicated her to Haruna and explained this. Chieko, noticing, gave a small wave. Haruna inclined her head at her, then nodded at the others. There was a question in her eyes, but she did not ask it, instead sticking her hands deep into the pockets of her jeans shorts before regarding us carefully.

"I know, you were expecting Tetsuya-kun as well. But he got tied up at work at the last moment. So." She shrugged.

There was a moment of silence, then she looked at the others.

"Abe-san probably told you guys who I am, but just in case-I'm Haruna Takashima, I was one of Kimihiro's friends, since middle school. "

"Ah, it was you two then. You posted all his music afterwards!" Noriko exclaimed. When Haruna gave her an odd look, she sweat-dropped.

"I'm just guessing based on your first names. That's how you both signed off on the social media posts. 'His friends, Haruna and Tetsuya'."

"Yes, that's right." Haruna said, recovering. "You pay attention, then."

"Well, sure." Noriko shrugged. "Arata-kun did some pretty cool stuff in his life, didn't he?"

"Yeah…..well…" Haruna blew out a breath, then gave us all a sideways look.

"Don't you all hate him or something though? Given that he killed?" she inquired.

"No, of course not." I said immediately, aghast. _Hate?_ That was a difficult question. Of course it would be different, the way we thought of the ones who'd killed, but still… _they suffered too, it's hardly fair._ Of course, that was much easier for me to say here, to the loved one of a killer who had nothing to do with Daisuke's demise, but it was true, and always would be.

"Of course, what he did was wrong, but he was still one of our classmates." Tyson interjected at this point, getting up to hand her the painting. He opened his mouth to explain it, but she simply took it and nodded at him. She weighed the package in her hands for a moment, and then put it down carefully, leaning it against her legs, before shrugging off the backpack she had on and rootling through it. Focusing on this, she spoke.

"It didn't come as a complete surprise to me, when I found out that he'd become a killer." She started off.

"Huh, seriously?" Masashi spluttered. I felt much the same, actually. It had poleaxed us all, that someone as amiable as Kimihiro could have stooped to such levels. I suppose I'd always assumed that the people who had loved him and known him better would have had similar feelings.

"Well, not a _complete_ surprise." Haruna amended, looking up briefly, one side of her mouth tugging up before she became grim again.

" _No, she's right." Kimihiro spoke up unexpectedly. "She's right, it was me. I was the one who killed Inoue-kun."_

" _Huh, wait, seriously?" Masashi spluttered._

" _I was starting to suspect it was so, but I still kind of find it hard to believe. Are you serious?" Akira asked._

" _Yeah. Yeah, I am. I'm glad you all figured it out, though. I knew that you would anyway, especially with you around, Iwafusa-san. But still, I'm so, so glad that you did manage to figure it out alone." At this, Kimihiro smiled at Kanekatsu with an unexpected fondness._

" _So, yeah. It was me. I wish I hadn't had to, but there we go."_

" _You didn't have to." Kanekatsu said strongly._

" _Yeah, I did." Kimihiro told her, sorrow evident in his voice. "Of course I had to. What if it had been you? What if one of the people struck down had been you?"_

" _What do you mean?" Ueno asked._

" _Obviously, he's talking about the latest motive we've been offered. " Erica proclaimed. "Am I right?"_

" _Yeah, you are." Kimihiro gave Erica a passing glance. "I wasn't about to let you go to harm, Iwafusa-san. What sort of person would I be, to let someone I was in love with come to harm when I could so easily prevent it? So I thought about it, and-"_

" _Excuse me, did you just say that you're in_ love _? With Iwafusa-san?!" Hokuto almost shrieked in shock, probably echoing everybody else's own feelings. Kimihiro nodded earnestly._

" _Yeah, that's right. Did I not mention it before?"_

" _Uh, no?" Masashi said. Kimihiro nodded again at this, and was about to say something, when Kanekatsu spoke up, looking poleaxed by what we had just heard._

" _Let him finish explaining." She gritted out._

"Knowing that he hadn't made it out, that was definitely a surprise at first. When his parents said they hadn't been able to identify his body because he'd been _executed_ and there wasn't enough to show them, that knocked us sideways. But once we learnt the reason he had killed. Well…."

Haruna paused at this, finally finding what she had been looking for in her backpack-a carrier bag-and straightened it out clumsily before concentrating on putting the painting inside of it.

"Part of me wondered if that wasn't something that would have happened sooner or later anyway."

"What…do you mean?" I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Kimihiro-kun was a good guy, he meant well and all, but…" Haruna stopped, and sized us up. "Let's just say his love could be a little heavy for the person on the receiving end. "

I wanted to ask what she meant by that, but there was something in the way she pursed her lips that made me think it would be best to not ask.

"What does that mean?" Hokuto asked, clearly not having the same qualms. Haruna shot her a look, but sighed and obliged.

"Just that he didn't have the best understanding of boundaries." She shot Hokuto a look, and pursed her lips once again. It was clear that she did not want to elaborate any more than this.

" _Good morning!" Kimihiro called out to none of us in particular as he carried a tray with his breakfast. He looked around, considering who to sit with, and then his face lit up as he zoned in on the table where Kanekatsu was sitting by herself. Erica hadn't come in yet, and of course, Yashiro was no longer around._

" _Good morning, Iwafusa-san. Is it okay if I sit with you?"_

 _Iwafusa looked up at him, and murmured a greeting, but didn't seem to indicate any opinion either way. Kimihiro, however, interpreted it as consent, and beamed, taking up a seat opposite her and sitting down._

I blinked suddenly as that memory surfaced. It was such a mundane, mundane moment, rendered a little less ordinary by the context-just a couple of days after Oshiro had been executed for Yashiro's death. I couldn't work out why I would be thinking of it. Even now, knowing of the feelings Kimihiro had developed during the game, it didn't seem a big deal. Kimihiro was friendly. He'd been one of the few people Hideki didn't constantly heckle, he'd been unfailingly kind to Chieko after Koutarou had died, he collaborated with me and Daisuke, and generally, he liked to chat with most of us. That morning had not been the only morning in the game when he'd chosen to eat breakfast with Kanekatsu, but even so. It was hardly anything special, it hadn't been an indicator of what was to come.

 _But it was. You know it was._

"Do you know the one thing that did surprise me about learning that?" Haruna asked unexpectedly, before I could fully collect myself. I blinked, but wasn't sure what to say.

"What was it?" Noriko asked in my stead.

"That it wasn't _you_ that he'd fallen in love with." She stared at me, and I felt my cheeks redden slightly.

 _Me?_

We had been friendly, and fellow musicians, collaborators. But why did that make me any better a candidate for him to have fallen in love with than Kanekatsu had? Haruna chuckled drily at my expression, and with the painting package safely wrapped in her carrier bag, she carefully tried to fit it in her backpack, and once she had managed that, she then zipped it up and put it on her back again. She then stuck her hands in her pockets once again and regarded us.

"Well. I guess the result is the same, anyway. We'll never really know for sure. Ah, I wish he hadn't ever gone to Hope's Peak in the first place. "

The last sentence came out wavering, betraying more emotion than her voice had done thus far. None of us said a thing to that. What could we have said, after all? For a moment, Haruna's mouth twisted bitterly as she remembered whatever she was remembering about Kimihiro, but then her expression flattened out into something more resigned.

"Well, thank you. I'll make sure that this gets to Kimihiro-kun's parents. See you later."

"Yeah, see you later, Takashima-san." I replied softly.

Haruna nodded once more at us, and then headed back off across the park, soon disappearing in the crowd of people on the other side.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

Haruna nodded at me as well on the way out, and I watched her for a moment. _Oh, you poor thing._ Hearing everything she had said, I could practically feel the unhappiness she gave off. It was different to Shin'ya, from yesterday. He didn't seem to want to hide his own desolation, but Haruna had kept it under wraps as much as she could have. I could tell that whatever it was she did on a day-to-day basis, she was able to do it with ease. She'd reconciled her grief with her life. _Will I get to such a point, one day?_ It was ultimately what I was trying to do, every single day, so hopefully I would.

Rubbing my head slightly, I stood up and looked over to see Shizuka climbing over one of the climbing frames, following a little girl roughly her age, and another little girl and boy who seemed slightly older than both of them, though probably not much more than second or third grade. She seemed to be having fun with them, and it almost felt a shame to call her away, but I did so anyway.

"Shizuka! It's time to go!"

Shizuka looked up and searched for a moment. When she met my eyes, she clambered down from the climbing frame. She pointed me out to her companions as she explained that she had to go, and I managed a smile and a wave as they all turned to regard me. Once she had said her goodbyes, she hopped over to me.

"Are you finished with your meeting, Mummy?" she asked, holding my hands out for Yosa, who I'd decided to hold for safekeeping so she could go and play. I gave Yosa back and she hugged the frog tightly.

"Yes, we are." I said as the others reached me. I looked over at Wakana, who seemed thoughtful.

"Are you alright, Wakana-Chan?" I asked carefully. Wakana nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, I am. Well, I will be. "

I nodded at that. Sometimes, that's just how it was. Sometimes, even if you weren't feeling okay right at that moment, you were still able to see your way to a point where that would change, even if that change wasn't guaranteed to last. Sometimes, that was what you had to hold onto.

"So, are we heading back home, then?" I asked, more generally. Akira nodded.

"Yeah, we are."

* * *

 **So just to clarify, one of the motives did indeed involve having Chisa tortured in front of them, with the promise that this is what would happen to their own loved ones if a killing didn't happen. It was considered a step-up from the first motive, which is the same as the DR1 motive, because of course that motive just involved videos of vandalised, empty homes, with no real hint of where the loved ones could be but still enough to imply a threat. But with this re-vamped motive, the threat was made much more concrete. And this was what spurred Koutarou to kill.** **I honestly don't think I'd be able to write the scenes where Chisa is getting tortured, but I will be touching upon the consequences of that torture (and indeed, I have hinted a bit here and there so far) later on in the story.**

 **So, anyway, as always, hope you enjoyed the chapter! And please do leave feedback!**


	15. Seeking One Happily-Ever-After

_Chieko_

"Let's get something to drink first, then we'll head on to the shops." Akira said as he opened the door. "Oh, and I'll get some spare bags."

"I might have a few if you want to use those as well?" Tyson offered. Akira nodded.

"That would be good."

"Ah, so what are we gonna do then?" Hokuto asked, half pouting as we went into the kitchen.

"Ah, I dunno, we can just chill and watch DVDs or something. Right, Akamine-tan?" Masashi asked, throwing a glance at me as he ambled to the fridge and pulled it open to pull out one of the few cartons of drinks that were still there. I startled.

"Yeah, sure. I don't really mind what we do. What do you want to do, Shizuka?"

Shizuka looked at me.

"I don't know….where's Wakana-san and everybody going?"

"They're going to help with the shopping."

"Shopping? What shopping?" Shizuka asked. "Why aren't we going? I want to go!"

"We don't all need to go there, Shizuka. Wakana-Chan and the others are going to help Akira-kun with the shopping, and the rest of us are staying here until they get back."

"But Mummy, I want to go too!"

"It's just food shopping, nothing exciting."

"But…."

Shizuka pouted quite impressively, and my mind scrambled for a response when Wakana stepped forward, a glass of water in her hand.

"It's okay, you can still come with us."

"Ah, but, Wakana-Chan-" I started. Wakana shook her head.

"Hey, it's fine. You can still stay here. Shizuka-Chan will be fine with me. Won't you?"

Shizuka nodded, and then looked at me. There wasn't really an argument I could make against that, so I just sighed and shook my head in resignation.

"If Akira-kun is fine with it, then sure. You can go."

"Yay!" Shizuka's pout disappeared, and she beamed happily. A few moments later, when Akira and Tyson came back down with an assortment of reusable carrier bags, I asked him.

"Well, if that's what you'd like. Are you going to help us with the shopping, Shizuka?"

"Yup!" she confirmed, looking very pleased with herself. I smiled and shook my head, but didn't say anything more as we all finished drinking, and then we all went to the door to see them all off.

"See you in a bit, then." Akira said calmly.

"Bye-bye, Mummy!" Shizuka called out happily.

"Bye." I said. "Make sure you behave for Wakana-Chan and everyone."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Wakana reassured, taking Shizuka's hand.

"Yep, exactly. To be honest, I'm more worried about you guys causing chaos here-especially _you_." Noriko pointed at Masashi, who glowered and muttered something indecipherable. After a few more moments, they were out, and when the door closed, my shoulders slumped and I sighed deeply.

"I think we're spoiling her."

"Ah, but that's our job." Hokuto cheerily informed me. "Besides, this is probably nothing more than a holiday for her, right? You're meant to be a little indulgent on holidays."

"If you say so…" I sighed again, then shook my head and turned around to face Hokuto and Masashi.

"Well, I'll wash those glasses and then…?"

"Movie night! Well, movie afternoon, but whatever." Hokuto grinned.

"Akira-tan has quite the collection, so let's have a rootle around." Masashi suggested.

"Sounds good to me." I said simply. "I'll see you in a minute or so."

As they started to bicker about genre choices, I headed over to the kitchen, and gathered up the glasses and took them over to the sink, washing them one by one. And I thought.

"… _Koutarou?"_

 _I was whispering-why was I whispering?-but my voice suddenly seemed so loud. Koutarou's eyes opened and regarded me carefully, but he didn't say anything as his hands continued to comb absently through my hair, undoing the tangles from when he'd undone my ponytail earlier. Instead, he waited for what I had to say._

 _And there was so much to say, so much that needed to be said after all this. But that was for later, when we climbed out of bed and shyly put our clothes back on and tidied ourselves up and went out to face the next day in this place. But there was only one thing I wanted and needed to ask now._

" _Stay alive with me?"_

" _Of course. I promise."_

Even now, I believe he had meant those words, that he himself had believed that such a thing was possible. And yet, a week later, we had seen Yukizome-sensei hurt in front of us, and Monobear had issued his newest motive, and the promise was broken, just like that. And there was no way of being sure, how easily Koutarou had been able to do that. He had explained nothing, in the trial, only confirming through gritted teeth the truth I hadn't wanted to be true. Kanekatsu had supposed that at least part of it had been down to opportunity, a simple case of taking advantage of the moment. But the details I really wanted to know-what Koutarou had been feeling, whether he even remembered what he had promised, if he had been thinking of me at all when he'd killed Hibiki. I would never, ever, know these things.

But it had been assumptions about all of these that had made me refuse to believe that he could have done that, right until the end. I'd felt so hyperaware of Koutarou's presence in that week, as if suddenly every fibre of my body was fine-tuned to the very essence of him. I'd never managed to straighten out what that meant for my feelings for him, and of course I never did. But that, too, had been another sense of closeness, of knowing him in a way that had led me to be so sure that he would indeed, stay alive with me.

Of all the things to be so wrong about, this was the worst, by far.

"Akamine-tan?"

I startled, and turned to see Masashi at the kitchen door, staring at me. I blinked silently. Masashi gave me an equally confounded look, and pointed at what I was doing. I looked down to see that the tap was still running, and that I was holding the same glass in my hand.

"Oh!" I quickly rinsed out the glass and put it to dry, then turned the tap shut. "Sorry, I was…."

I trailed off. Somehow, 'day dreaming' was not the right turn of phrase to use. Masashi grinned at me.

"You were taking a while. Did you just zone out?"

I just shrugged, and the grin faded. He crossed over and met my eyes.

"What are you thinking of?"

"I…ah…." Again, I trailed off and just shrugged. Masashi frowned at me, and then reached over to take the last two glasses.

"Well, in that case, I'd better get it done, or you'll be here all afternoon, won't you?" He huffed, though he smiled again as he said this. I nodded and stepped aside.

"It'll be good for you to just chill and not have to worry so much. We've picked out an anime DVD, one of the ones Hibiki-tan voice acted in, just your typical relaxed slice-of-life, nothing heavy. Which makes this movie night more of an anime afternoon, but whatever. It's a fun series. So for a little while, at least, we won't need to think of…well, you know." Masashi rambled.

"I'm not so sure it's something you can stop." I murmured. Drying off the last two glasses, Masashi gave me a look.

"Well," he eventually said. "The point about chilling for a bit still stands, right?"

For some reason, this made me think of being in the hospital and of how sometimes, usually when Wakana was being checked over by doctors or in interview and I was on my own, I used to go and sit and watch Masashi doing physical therapy. I didn't exactly cheer him on or anything as exuberant as that, but I watched and hoped that in some way, my presence would convey my support. A couple of times some of the others were there (and once Akira had woken up, I was usually watching both of them going through it together), but there were a few times when it was just me. I'd only just discovered I was pregnant at that point, I'd not even told Wakana about it, and I couldn't see my way into the future. But all the same, those moments in the physical therapy room had been reassuring.

None of which particularly had any relevance to the present moment, but still, thinking of that made me figure that Masashi was correct in the point he was making. So despite my mood, I smiled.

"I guess I can't argue with that one."

 **…**

 _Masashi_

I watched Chieko carefully as we went into the living room. There had been something in her look that reminded me a lot of the earliest days after Koutarou's death. How long had she been standing there, oblivious to everything but what had been going on inside her head? I'd thought that she was okay now, as okay as any of us ever really could be, but perhaps she wasn't. And if that was the case, how could I have not noticed that? I, who claimed to love her, how could I if I didn't notice these things?

 _So, I'll make sure to notice this time. And if I need to, I'll look after her._ Well, we all would, naturally. We had done so before, and so if need be, we'd rally around again. But I didn't think that detracted from my own personal vow to take care of her.

"Hey, I managed to figure out the DVD player without you, Masashi-kun!" Hokuto said cheerfully, looking up from where she was crouching in front of said DVD player.

"Congratulations." I deadpanned. Hokuto didn't notice, and simply sprung up to go sit on the three seater sofa, grabbing the remote off of its arm to turn the television on. Chieko went and sat at the other end of the sofa, and I rolled my eyes when I realised that left me in the middle, but decided to let it go and just sat there. A few moments later, the start screen came up, with the option to just play all the episodes from the beginning of the first, select a particular episode to watch, or go through the DVD extras.

"So, anyone got a particular favourite episode?" Hokuto asked. "I don't, really, so I'm fine with whatever."

"I'd rather start from the beginning." I said. "What about you, Akamine-tan?"

Chieko considered this, and I held my breath waiting for the answer.

"Ahh….I don't really remember this one so well. So yeah, let's start from the beginning."

"Beginning it is, then!" Hokuto selected the relevant option, then we all leaned back to watch. The episode kicked off with the opening song, a peppy, cheerful song with a video sequence that showcased all the characters in cheerful, semi-comedic moments. The character that Hibiki was voicing was an athletic blond-haired, dark eyed high school girl who seemed to run around after her friends, tidying the messes that they made in their clubroom. A half-foreign girl who'd just returned to Japan after spending a few years overseas, if I remembered the plot correctly, a character who was completely the opposite of Hibiki-who would be the one making the messes. Still, I supposed that was a testament to how good her voice acting was.

We sat in silence throughout the rest of the episode and the next one after that, apart from when the characters did something particularly weird….which, given the anime, seemed to be every two minutes. Hokuto was constantly in stitches at it all, while I found myself torn between laughing along and just giving up on society. Chieko was a lot quieter, but every time I looked at her, she looked calm and relaxed, and a few times she even laughed aloud, especially when Hibiki's character was at the centre of the antics in question.

Naturally, that was more important to me than the quality of the show.

"I've not done anything like this in a while. It's nice." Chieko said softly, when the ending song for the second episode started to play.

"I can imagine, you're pretty busy as it is, aren't you?" Hokuto said. "But what about your dad? He looks after Shizuka sometimes, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, when I've got to go into uni, or…." Chieko hesitated. "Things like that. He and Ana-san, and even my sister help a lot there. But that's a lot to ask from them anyway….and really, my life's quite easy, because they're there to help. I don't want to step over the line."

 _But you deserve to be happy._ Because as much as there was a need to watch over her, I knew also that in so many ways, she had been one of the strongest of us all.

" _In a way, Erica-Chan was right."_

" _Eh?"_

 _Surprisingly, it was Chieko who had uttered these words the moments the lights had brightened again. Standing where I was, I couldn't see what her expression was, but I noticed the way the hand holding the notebook was gripping onto it tightly, knuckles whitening with the strain._

" _What…do you mean by that?" Akira ventured. Chieko didn't answer, but instead she turned and looked across the courtroom at Monobear, resting his head on one of his paws, watching us. She closed her eyes and then took a deep breath, before opening them again, and carefully releasing Wakana's hand-which she'd been holding for most of the whole trial and execution-she walked over until she was right up in front of Monobear's throne._

" _Upupu, what's this, Akamine-san?" Monobear sat up straight. "Got something to tell me?"_

 _Chieko did not answer immediately, and we all moved back into the courtroom area and stared at her, wondering what was going to happen._

" _Erica-Chan was right. This has to be the last of it all. And it will be." She spoke eventually. Her voice was still trembling, still barely a whisper, but it didn't matter. We could all hear it, clear as a bell._

" _Ohoho, what a bold claim! Weren't you all crying this last time, and the time before that? No, actually, you were just crying about 'oh, Koutarou couldn't have possibly done it, boo hoo'"_

 _Chieko flinched at that, but she didn't back down. Instead, she did something even more astonishing-she knelt down, so she was closer to Monobear's eye level, and leaned in slightly._

" _This will be the last time. We're not playing anymore." She stated, enunciating each murmured word with incredible deliberation. "The game ends here. You won't give us any more motives, there won't be any more murders or trials. No more."_

For all that she was fragile enough that we'd feared for her, she'd still endured, and though I could never really pinpoint at what point I'd ended up falling for her, it was that turning point, when she'd spoken up for us and set the wheel into motion, the one that would make Junko Enoshima bend and allow us a 'final trial', that I found myself thinking of first whenever I pondered on this question.

But to be honest, wondering when it started didn't really matter in the grand scheme. All that did was the current moment, and my current feelings-that she deserved the world _._ I wasn't even sure I could give it to her in the first place, but that didn't make it any less true. Didn't mean that I didn't want to be the one to give her the world.

"We should just have an entirely chill day, once we've given out all the paintings we can. Maybe if there are any summer festivals going on nearby this year, we can all go and check it out. There's a good one I can think of that's usually around every summer near the centre of town." I suggested instead.

"I didn't bring a yukata." Hokuto objected instantly.

"…neither did I." Chieko admitted after a moment's confused blinking. I groaned.

"So? Who cares? Plenty of people just go in their casual clothes. It'll be fun."

"Yeah, it will be. It's not as if we got to go together as high schoolers after all, is it?" Hokuto pointed out, sounding unusually wistful as she did, though she seemed to quickly shake it off.

"Exactly!" I crowed.

"Shizuka would love that. And I do have _her_ yukata, though I'm not sure why I have it in the first place…." Chieko said. I grinned at her.

"Well, now you have a reason, right? And she'll definitely love it. But what about _you_? Would you end up loving it?" I asked as casually as I could, trying not to blush like a giddy adolescent at the word 'loving'. She thought about it, and then smiled back.

"I think I would. Let's look it up later."

"Of course."

When we looked back at the television again, the third episode had started, and we fell more-or-less silent again, watching it. After a few minutes, after a scene in which the main characters were walking to school and getting distracted by all sorts of things including wandering cats and a schoolbag that chose an inconvenient moment to break, Chieko fell almost completely silent. I didn't think anything of it at first, but then when Hibiki's character made her entrance into the episode with a spectacularly bad pun and I groaned at it, she didn't react.

So I looked over, only to discover that Chieko had fallen asleep.

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

The on-screen events were hysterical, but that didn't prevent me from noticing that for some reason, Masashi was spluttering. Not that a spluttery reaction was new from him, but it seemed a bit out of place.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Akamine-tan's asleep." Masashi replied in a strangled whisper. I frowned at him, and then looked over, only to see that he was indeed correct. Chieko was fast asleep, leaning back into the sofa, head slightly tilted to one side, hands folded around the cushion she had been holding in her lap.

"Is she ill? Should we wake her?"

Masashi pursed his lips at that.

"I don't think so…" he paused again, then shook his head. "No, let's leave her be until everyone else gets back."

"Cool, okay!" I turned back to the TV, satisfied with that, but after a few moments I got the sense that Masashi wasn't satisfied, and so I turned back to see that he was also trying to watch the program, but that every few moments he kept looking back at Chieko, an incredibly odd mixture of tenderness and trepidation in his face. _Huh?_ It was the type of expression that I had never seen on Masashi's face before, and I struggled to figure out what it signified. But then, Masashi's eyes flicked over to me, and he noticed me look.

"Gaah! What are you fucking looking at?!" he spat out, clearly forgetting to dial back his swearing now that Shizuka wasn't nearby. I raised an eyebrow at how red he was getting, and then it suddenly hit me.

 _Oh. Oh. It's so obvious now._

So pleased with this sudden revelation, I just sat there and beamed at him. Masashi suddenly narrowed his eyes at me.

"Why do you look so happy all of a sudden?"

"Who'd have ever imagined it, Masashi-kun all gooey in love?"

Masashi became redder at that, and glowered at me.

"Shut up."

"But it's true, isn't it?" I sang.

"Don't you dare breathe a word to this, to anyone." He half-whispered, looking over at Chieko with that same expression. Then, he stared at me, looking unusually helpless.

"Am I that obvious, Nanto-tan?" he asked.

"Well….I didn't realise a thing until I was looking at you just now, but once I did, it seemed perfectly clear. So I guess both yes, and no?"

"Right, because that really helps." Masashi sniped.

"Are you going to confess?" I asked, letting his snappiness bypass me.

"When, exactly, should I do that?" he asked me, without any heat this time

"I dunno. You figure it out. But are you? You should."

"…and if she's not interested in how I feel? What then?"

"Why're you wording it like that?" I tilted my head at him curiously. "It's Chieko-Chan, isn't it? Even if she doesn't feel the same way that you do, it's not like she won't be interested. They're _your feelings,_ so I think she'll take them seriously. "

"Yeah, well…" Masashi considered.

"Anyway, how does anyone know what feelings anyone has for another, unless they ask?"

As soon as I said that, I realised that might have been a silly thing to say. After all, people gave off signals, about whether they were interested in you, whether they were even looking for love or just a hook-up, all their feelings. You could read people's body language and infer intentions, and that was more or less how you stumbled through life with other humans. I knew I was a bit hit and miss with it, but I hadn't alienated anyone, so it was all good.

But still, sometimes, there was no way to be sure of something until you faced it directly and asked the question. At one point, that must have happened with Rei. Whether it was me who confessed, or her, I hadn't written down in my journals and so I would never know. But that relationship we'd once had, it wouldn't have happened if not for a question.

"Yeah, I suppose…" Masashi said. "But, I don't know."

The ending song of the episode suddenly blared, and I quickly reached for the remote to turn the volume down. I waited for Masashi to elaborate, but he didn't, instead just sitting there, lost in thought.

"It's not like I don't _want_ to, you know." Masashi spoke up after a few moments. "I want….I want…."

Masashi gave up on his sentence and sighed.

"So, try, what's stopping you?" I encouraged. "The worst is, she'll gently turn you down. You can even come cry on my shoulder if she does."

Masashi mock-glared at me at this, and I beamed innocently. _In truth, some of us should at least have a happily ever after._ It was not as if none of us had ever looked for such things-Tyson had been married once, I knew Noriko had tried dating someone from that support group her therapist had encouraged her to attend. Then there was me, still actively searching for the right lady for me. And perhaps it was true that none of it had worked out for any of us, yet. _But it needs to, one day._ Why did we have to be struggling and alone, just because of what we'd gone through seven years ago? Having been put through something so horrific shouldn't prevent us from one day finding someone to share a life with. It shouldn't be stopping me from finding that sort of happiness.

But if I couldn't find it, if I was destined to never find closure where Rei was concerned and then go on to find the one for me, then I could put all my energy into supporting the others, so that they would find their own happily-ever-afters. And now, such an opportunity had come.

"No, but seriously. I am like, 100% behind you. Actually, 1000%. So seriously, go for it."

"You're not going to tell anyone." It wasn't a question.

"I won't breathe a _word_." I promised happily. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"I mean it, Nanto-tan."

"So do I, Masashi-kun."

"Tch, well…." Masashi looked over at Chieko again, that same expression stealing across his face for an instant, once again.

"Fine, since you're so excited by the idea for whatever reason, I'll try. "

"Really? Awesome, when?!"

"How should I know?" Masashi snapped. I waited, and eventually he rubbed his head.

"No, seriously, I _don't know_. But before we separate again, for sure."

"Sounds like a plan." I held out my hand, pointing my pinkie finger at him, and he stared. I sighed exaggeratedly.

"Pinkie promises? You do know what one of those are, right?"

"Have you lost your mind?" he muttered, even as he held out his own pinkie finger. We linked them.

"So, it's a promise?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

 _I hope it works out._

 **…**

 _Masashi_

I had never been more relieved when Hokuto finally decided to drop it and turn back to the TV. I'd made a pinky promise with her- _are we kids again or something?-_ mostly to get her to back off, but thinking about it, it didn't seem like a bad idea, as such. Probably better than just holding onto my feelings indefinitely and stumbling through life, as I had originally planned to do. Though saying that I had _planned_ it was probably a stretch. It was just the default from indecision.

 _Ah, what did I get myself into?_

I took another glance at Chieko, still asleep, and wondered what she was dreaming of. Whether it was the same thing she had been thinking of in the kitchen or not. _I want to know. Whatever it is you're feeling, I want you to share it with me. But not just as a friend and a Survivor, but…_

I let out a breath, and feeling my cheeks go hot, I made a point of focusing on the TV again. But a sound made me turn back again, only to see that Chieko was stirring.

"Huh….I fell asleep, huh?" it took a few moments for her eyes to focus.

"Yep, you did." Hokuto informed her cheerily. "Was it a good sleep?"

"I…suppose?" Chieko looked confused as she sat up straighter. "I don't usually drop off in the middle of the afternoon…."

"Ah, it's no big deal, really!" Hokuto said.

"Yup, exactly." I chimed with forced nonchalance, pointing at Hokuto, who stuck her tongue out. Chieko smiled at that, then pointed at the TV.

"Ah, you're still watching?"

"Yeah, you've not been asleep for that long-"

Halfway through my sentence, I was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and the others coming through it. _Huh, I didn't even hear Akira-tan's car come up._

"We're back!" Akira called out.

"Mummy, we're back!" Shizuka echoed. Chieko immediately went out to see her, and Hokuto followed along. This of course, left me to stop the DVD, take it out of the player and turn the TV off. _Wonderful._

"I'll come over and help in a minute!" I called out so the others wouldn't wonder where I was. Then, I paused the DVD and ejected it, and went to take it out. As I crouched down in front of the DVD player, I heard Shizuka burst out in peals of laughter at something one of the others had said, and Chieko's voice say something in response-though, as they moved into the kitchen, I couldn't hear the specifics. It was a nice sound. I wanted it to be the soundtrack to my everyday life, not just part of these two weeks.

 _But if I want to have that chance, then I'll need to take a chance, won't I?_

So as I put the DVD back in its case, put the case back where it belonged, and then turned the TV off before going to help out with unpacking the shopping, I decided to make the promise again, but this time only to myself, to solidify it.

 _I'll tell her my feelings before we separate again, for sure._

* * *

 **The anime that Chieko, Masashi and Hokuto were watching doesn't actually exist. I'm sure that would have been apparent anyway, but yeah, thought I may as well mention that.**

 **Anyway, the bittersweet fluff was only meant to be contained to the first half of the chapter, and then the introduction of Oshiro in the second half...instead, the fluff decided it wanted to take up a whole chapter, so yeah. Here you have it. And as always, hope you enjoyed it, and please leave feedback!**


	16. A Thousand Words, part 1

_Chieko_

Oshiro's two friends had asked us to meet us over his grave-rather, they had insisted-and so that was where we ended up, halfway through the afternoon. We'd made lunches for ourselves before we'd left, and stopped on the way to eat them in a park, turning the journey a bit of a daytrip, it was that far. Indeed, the next day, we would be doing the same when heading out to find Yashiro's father. Though tomorrow's journey was a fair bit further than today's had been, to the extent that we'd be taking public transport the next day. I'd also packed a few things for Shizuka to do, but as we reached the gate to the graveyard, I realised that wasn't particularly appropriate. _Oh well, at least they'll keep for the journey back._

We went through the gate, and it turned out to be quite the large graveyard, and for a moment I wondered how we were going to find his friends-whose names momentarily eluded me-in a place of this size. But of course, given it was a graveyard, it was very easy to quickly spot two figures standing by a particular stone in the middle, clearly looking out. Akira lifted up a hand and waves slightly to get their attention, and the female figure did the same in return, to signal that they'd spotted us, and we made our way over to them.

"Good afternoon." Akira greeted them when we arrived. He stopped next to them, and we all assembled around and slightly behind him, though Wakana went to put down the flowers we'd brought along.

"Hello there." The female greeted, smiling politely despite the fact she obviously seemed somewhat on edge. The male said nothing, fidgeting restlessly, playing with his short black hair and struggling to meet our eyes. The female looked at him, and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Shouta!" she hissed. He grimaced, but didn't object.

"Hi there. Thanks for coming." He said.

"No, no, thank you. We're the ones who asked to meet, after all." Tyson said. The female tilted her head and considered.

"Yes, that's true, isn't it? Anyway, we should probably introduce ourselves properly. "I'm Mio Fujioka, and that's Shouta Kobayashi. We're both old friends of Nobuyu-we _were_ old friends of Nobuyuki-kun."

 _Ah, yes._ We all knew it now, that Oshiro had not been precisely who we'd thought it was. It was still strange to hear someone refer to him so readily by his real first name.

"Y-yeah, that's right. But what was this about a painting?"

"I have it here." Tyson pulled the package out of the bag and handed it over. Mio and Shouta exchanged looks, before Mio huffed and eventually took it. She considered this.

"Can we open it now?"

"Well, I don't see why not." Noriko shrugged before Tyson could even say anything. Mio pursed her lips and nodded, but then abruptly shoved it at Shouta, who flailed before grabbing the package.

"Why me?" he whispered anxiously at Mio.

"Ah, just do it! It's a painting of Nobuyuki-kun, it's not a bomb!"

"Then why don't you….ah, fine." Shouta's shoulders slumped, and he started to tear at the paper. Mio ended up helping, gathering the bits as they fell away, so as to not litter the graveyard. We waited as they did so, not sure whether to leave or not. Eventually, the painting was completely unwrapped, and they both took a few seconds to look at it. When Shouta looked up at us again, his expression had completely changed, softened out from the nerves he had been showing before.

"I….which one of you did this?"

"That would be De Guerre-Chan here." Wakana smiled gently at him.

"Yes, that's right. " Tyson agreed politely.

"It….it looks like Nobuyuki. I mean…the Nobuyuki we knew." Shouta stammered out, staring at Tyson in astonishment. "But…it was Haruto-kun that…"

"Nobuyuki was the person we knew, even if we didn't know him by that name." Tyson said carefully.

"But….you knew him _as_ Haruto Oshiro, not as Nobuyuki. And they're different people, you know. But…that's the actual Nobuyuki, on here. The _actual_ one, not the version who'd been pretending to be his brother. The _actual_ one."

As if to demonstrate his point, Shouta turned around the painting to show us.

It was a portrait of Oshiro, and he looked exactly like the person we all remembered-a red baseball hat pulled over sandy, somewhat fluffy hair, serious eyes of a similar shade framed by rectangular glasses, a few freckles, a small scar across his eyebrow. The t-shirt he was wearing was a very light yellow, and though it couldn't be seen in this portrait, I knew there was a mint-green kitten printed on the t-shirt. It had been what he was wearing on the first day of school. I remember overhearing Hibiki and Shiro enthusiastically compliment him on it to the point that he was incredibly embarrassed and tried to hide it for the rest of the time.

Of course, just from all this, we couldn't tell how similar or how different he looked to the actual Haruto Oshiro. Nor did we know what Nobuyuki was like when he was just himself, whether that was similar to the person we had all known or not. So it made little difference, looking at the painting. Still, somehow, I understood precisely what Shouta meant.

"Erm….is this a good thing, at all?"

"Of course it is." I murmured.

" _Yes_." Mio stated empathetically at the same time, reddish-brown eyes sparkling.

"I can't believe it, that he killed. Nobuyuki wasn't a killer. He wasn't!" Shouta burst out suddenly.

" _It's not as if I'm Nobunaga, you know! I didn't kill just for the kicks!" Oshiro protested hotly. "Don't lump me in with the likes of him!"_

We stared at him dumbly, though Mio sighed and shook her head. What else could be said to such a statement, when everything clearly pointed to the fact that yes, he was a killer. Then again, it was not as if I could really point fingers in that regard. I supposed that back then, I had been exactly like Shouta. So it was another thing I could understand. _But, what can I say? It's not like that makes anything better._

"I don't think we'd have thought any of our classmates to be killers before this happened, and it's not like they were. " Wakana said consolingly, though I knew she'd been troubled and thinking about Kimihiro, and by what Haruna had said about him. Not to mention, it wasn't strictly true to say that none of our classmates had killed before, when Hideki had done so, well before he'd ended up in Hope's Peak. But of course, he'd ended up a victim, not a killer, and we hadn't known his history back then.

"You….really?" Shouta wrung his hands anxiously.

"Yes. Yes, we believe that." I confirmed.

" _I…that….no way." Blanching, Oshiro went pale and stumbled back, almost falling over the bed, unable to look at Shiro sprawled over her bedroom floor but yet unable to look away either._

" _How? She was fine last night!" Noriko said in bewilderment. Both Hironori and Hideki were smirking in the background, and Erica was quite busily jotting something down, face bright at the discovery, but the rest of us seemed to have sentiments that aligned more with Oshiro's and Noriko's than theirs. This was just…horrible. That somebody would actually die here…and though I couldn't tell how Shiro had died, it seemed horrible, especially as she was all sprawled out like that. At least Mum had gone peacefully, when she'd gone. This was….._

" _Why?" I murmured._

" _This….I thought that bear automaton was…I thought it was a prank." Oshiro said, taking a few gulping breaths, shuddering._

" _Hey, Oshiro-kun, are you alright?" spotting how shaken he seemed, Wakana went up to him almost immediately, despite looking incredibly grey herself._

He'd hated this. The killing game set-up, he'd hated it, of this I was sure of that. I think, of the five who'd ended up killing, only Hironori and Erica could have been said to like it in any way, and where Erica was concerned, the words she left behind suggested that perhaps it was not so simple. Still, of course, I knew better than anyone else that a hatred of what we'd been thrown in wasn't enough to ensure innocence.

Because if it was, then Koutarou would have kept his promise to me.

"The game was setting us all up to want to kill. Sure, Oshiro-tan gave in, but hell…ugh, I don't know." Masashi threw up his hands in annoyance. "The motive of having our secrets revealed to the world would have been pretty dangerous for him, what with him being disguised as his brother….actually, did you guys even know about that? I don't actually know that."

"No." Mio and Shouta said, almost in unison. Almost immediately after that, Mio whipped around and glared at Shouta.

"Yes, you did." She accused.

"No I _didn't_!" Shouta protested hotly, even as his gaze skittered away from her and his foot started to poke at the ground.

"You did, you had to have had known. Why do you keep saying that?" This was a conversation that they'd had variations of before, I could tell. I exchanged a look with Wakana, and she shrugged helplessly.

"He _did_ know. He and Nobuyuki-kun, they've known each other for much longer than I've known either of them. There's no _way_ that he didn't say anything to Shouta-kun!" Mio burst out, this aimed at us. Shouta looked back over and shook his head firmly.

"No, I just knew what you did-that he unexpectedly transferred to another school out of town. Besides, if he didn't want anyone to know, makes sense that as few people as possible knew! Right?"

This was also aimed at us, and Shouta seemed faintly desperate as he continued to wring his hands. _Stop looking like me. Stop looking like me._ I could feel it churning in me, that same feeling, and I fought to clamp it down. I couldn't lose it here, not in front of the others, and certainly not while Shizuka was here-she'd been so good, not even saying a word as she watched us talk. But then, looking at Shouta and wishing his feelings away, I realised something equally blindingly obvious.

 _He doesn't want to be here._ Not just in terms of the situation, but the graveyard. If he actually had known of Oshiro's plan with his brother and was keeping it secret, even now, then it would weigh so badly on him, that he'd been supportive and that this had happened. _Huh, so was it Fujioka-san who insisted that we meet here? It makes little sense otherwise…._

"A-ah, maybe it's time we should be going now?" I tried to be as calm as possible while saying this. Akira considered me, then nodded slowly.

"Yes, we should." He decided.

"Ah, just one more question about Oshiro-kun, if that's okay!" Noriko burst out suddenly. We all stared at her.

"Sure…" Mio said warily.

"After…everything, Oshiro-kun's brother, he published that book online…'The Sneaky Sheep Switch'….but what happened afterwards? Everything just went silent. Does he not write anymore?"

"No, he doesn't." Mio said stonily.

"After he wrote that book….he took a turn for the worse. Depressed, as well as the original problems. His parents couldn't handle looking after him, so…well, yeah." Shouta shrugged as he gave this explanation, as well as he could while still holding the painting.

 _Oh. Institutionalised._ There was an irony there, that the fate of Mitarai, one of the others known as the Big Five, had essentially turned out nearly identical to the real Haruto Oshiro's outcome. But instead, that just made me feel heavier.

"I'm so sorry." Inadequate words, such, such paltry words, but I said them. Shouta looked at me, and grimaced. _Stop looking at me._

"I am, too."

 **…**

 _Noriko_

"Okay, so…what's 'The Sneaky Sheep Switch?'" Hokuto was the first to break the silence, ten minutes after we'd driven away.

"It's this weird children's book…well, 'children's' is a bit of a loose term, because it's pretty disturbing. It's basically about them. Oshiro-kun and his brother, how Oshiro-kun pretended to be his brother because he didn't want to go, and then how he ended up…except the setting of the story is two sheep on a farm, and the Nobu sheep got made into meat by a mean farmer rather than…you know, what literally happened. So it's childish, I guess, but not really for kids."

"…and this got _published_?" Chieko asked from the seat behind us.

"No. Not properly. The sketches and the like got put online, that's all." I should know, given that I find myself looking at it every April, even though it makes me shudder.

"Oh. That's a relief. "Chieko sighed.

"Yeah." I say, simply. Notwithstanding the fact I perfectly understand the personal reasons for Chieko not wanting Shizuka to know anything of the killing game-though at this point, I couldn't help but think that ship has already started to sail-'The Sneaky Sheep Switch' is _not_ a book that I would ever want any child to get their hands on. Still, it's one way to tell the story. Sachiko's book, when it happens, will be another. _But both are only from the perspective of one person…_

"Do you think Haruto's parents will show him the painting, once they get it?" Tyson asked.

" _Upupupu, while it would be fun to just let you all get angry at this imposter in our midst, unfortunately, I am bound by my code of honour to tell the truth, so….well, you guys wanna hear it, or what?"_

" _Does it matter?!" Oshiro burst out. "You're going to kill me anyway!"_

" _Well, I think at the very least we should have some explanation of why you did it." Daisuke said. "And even if we now know you were standing in for your brother, that doesn't explain everything."_

" _Exactly! As expected of an actual SHSL student!" Monobear gloated. "So….basically…..the short version is, the actual Haruto Oshiro is a lunatic!"_

" _You take that back!" Oshiro snapped. Monobear sneered at him._

" _What, it's true, isn't it? Poor itty-bitty Haruto-kun is a paranoid lunatic who has to live at home being coddled by Mummy and Daddy, he's that crazy. There's no way he could cope with the outside world, let alone the prestigious Hope's Peak!"_

 _Oshiro silently seethed at that-who could blame him?-, but didn't say anything at all. We exchanged nervous looks with each other, and eventually, Wakana sighed._

" _Were you protecting your brother then, Oshiro-kun? By pretending to be him?"_

 _Oshiro glared at her, and squirmed even more. He flicked a glance at Kanekatsu who-quite understandably-simply stared at him frostily. But eventually, his shoulders slumped and he nodded._

"I don't think that's something we can guess." Akira said after a pause. Wakana sighed.

"No, I suppose not. I would have liked to meet him, though. "

"Yeah, I would have too." I sighed. _Though I suppose the fact he broke after his brother's death says enough, doesn't it?_ As much as I loved my own sister, I couldn't imagine her stepping in to pretend to be me for such reasons. My brother would have, I guess, but of course, for so many reasons that wouldn't have been feasible, so I'd never had considered such a thing.

We hit a line of traffic, and as the car waited, I leaned my head against the window and stared out at the street.

"Good thing Hope's Peak doesn't exist anymore, huh? They'd have gone mad over the fact." I ended up saying after a few moments, just to break the silence.

"Gee, d'ya think?" Masashi deadpanned. "Not that they'd have any fu- any right to."

"They wouldn't have much of a leg left to stand up on anymore, given what they allowed to happen to us. " Tyson put in.

"Yeah, pretty much." I agree, nodding at him. There was, admittedly, a bit of buzz about the brother swap, just as there were little buzzes about various other revelations from the killing game, but it was all sort of lost in the general furore of the media attention that our ordeal had garnered. Or rather, it was all part of the same package, not worth singling out as such. For all that we were so bombarded with the media attention to the extent that when we left Togami's place we had to use the back entrance, for the most part the media was enraged on our behalf, rather than _at_ us.

Not that I'd go so far to call them kind or anything like that. The media was a pest at a time when all I wanted to do was just be quiet and alone, to let it all sink in. But still, on balance, we came out pretty well, us Survivors.

 _Will that change, after Chiko's book? Ah, I hope not._

"Does it matter though? Hope's Peak is _gone_."

Surprised at the sudden venom in her tone, I leant over and looked past Tyson to study Hokuto. She had her chin propped up by her hand, staring out of the window. From her reflection, she seemed pretty introspective.

"Yeah, let's not talk about….that place anymore. For a while, at least." Chieko murmured.

"Mummy? What's wrong?" apparently, this had caught Shizuka's attention.

"It's nothing."

"Mummy, you say that about _everything_. It can't be nothing all the time, can it?"

"No, it can't." Chieko conceded. "But this time, it's nothing. Don't worry, okay?"

"Hmmm….."

I looked through the small gap between the seats at them, and caught Chieko's eye. She gave me a small smile and I grinned, before facing forwards again.

"I second…well, third, I guess, Nanto-tan and Akamine-tan." Masashi announced. I sighed.

"Yeah, sure. Sorry."

"Nah, don't apologise." Hokuto sounded sunny again, though she still studiously stared out of the window.

"With all this in mind, are we all still up to delivering Tsukishima-san's painting tomorrow?" Akira asked suddenly.

"We _need_ to. Even if I just went up by myself, I _need_ to give Tsukishima's one. I'd find a way." Tyson responded almost immediately, an urgency in his voice.

"You don't have to put yourself through that all alone." Wakana protested. "We got through these ones, we'll do the rest."

"Yeah, sure, sure." Hokuto chimed in.

"That's a pretty ridiculous thing to say, De Guerre-tan." Masashi scoffed. "We'll deal. Despite, it's the last one, isn't it? Since we're gonna have to mail Usami-tan's one to her sibs."

"I'm okay with it too!" Shizuka piped up from the back, making us all laugh.

"Then, we'll do it. " Akira decided once we'd calmed down. And just at that moment, the traffic line finally started to move again.

 **…**

 _Tyson_

Akira had been leading the way, since he was the one with the directions to Handa & Co Ltd, but when the large, shiny building came into view, I found myself moving ahead of them, as if I was being pulled into the place by the sense of duty I felt.

Yet, the moment I got to the door, I froze. I just looked through the glass doors at the hustle and bustle of working life going on behind them, and just could not move.

"What's wrong, De Guerre-Chan?" Wakana asked.

"It's a bit rude, us turning up like this, isn't it?" It wasn't really the reason as such, but it had been something I was thinking about.

"Yes, well, you did try, didn't you? So, we just find him and you apologise for the intrusion or whatever." Hokuto said. She had a point, I supposed. When we'd made the plan for delivering the paintings, we'd used what bits of memory we still had to figure out what company Yashiro's father worked for-and was actually the CEO of, as it turned out-found a website for them with contact details specifically relating to him, and I'd sent an email, and left a voicemail message. Neither of these had been replied to though-not even with an automated email response saying that he was away for this many days, or some bland generic reply from his secretary or PA or anything like that. There was just radio silence. It could just be that he hadn't had the time to get around to replying, or he was ignoring us for whatever reason, but either way, we'd just decided to try our luck and turn up.

There was also the argument that we'd done exactly the same where Erica's father was concerned, and indeed we'd struck lucky in a sense, having arrived just as he was stepping out for lunch. But this felt like a completely different kettle of fish.

 _The first thing I was confronted with was a wall that was wallpapered with the most ridiculous wallpaper I had ever seen. I took a few more steps forward, then turned around, and I looked down a corridor that was both familiar and unfamiliar. It looked like the corridors of the school I'd been in for the past two weeks, but yet it didn't. It was darker because of the steel plates on the windows, yet brighter because of the ostentatious wallpaper. But yet I had been walking towards the entrance when I'd suddenly blacked out. I couldn't have gone that far, could I?_

Pull yourself together, De Guerre! _I mentally scolded myself._ You're representing the United Kingdom, stop dithering! _I steeled my shoulders and started to walk purposefully, keeping my guard open but trying not to think too much about it. After all, if this was Hope's Peak, or a place modelled on it, then I could simply use the directions I had been learning to make my way around. And sure enough, the turns I made all felt familiar to me, like the ones I had used to get to class every day._

 _Except, of course, I could not find our classroom. And soon, I came to a staircase that was barricaded by a metal gate, yet another thing that hadn't been there. I looked around, and spotted a button on the wall, so I strode over, prepared to press it, but at the last moment, I hesitated. There was a reason people were told never to press big red buttons, after all._

 _Shaking my head, I abandoned it and went right up to the metal gate, and shook it. It rattled violently, but didn't seem to budge. I sighed, but did not allow myself to slump. Instead, I decided the next best thing to do was scout the entire area properly and get a better sense of where I was, then draw up a proper strategy. Pleased that I was still keeping a cool head, I prepared to head back where I came, when I heard a motion and some talking._ The person who put me here? Are they coming for me?

" _Freeze!" I called out, whipping around, wishing I had an actual weapon on me, when suddenly, my racing thoughts came to a halt, and I realised who I was staring at._

" _De Guerre-san, you're here too?" Yashiro asked._

" _I suppose so, yes. " I responded after a beat. "My apologies to the both of you, I didn't realise…"_

" _That doesn't matter for now." Kanekatsu brushed off my apologies. "The main thing is to confirm that we're in the same situation. Did you wake up in a classroom just now, after having blacked out on the way to class this morning?"_

" _In actual fact I woke up in what appeared to be a storage room. Apart from that, I can confirm that your assumptions are right, Ma'am. Am I right in assuming that the same has happened to you?"_

" _Yes." Yashiro said. "Kane and I, we woke up in the same classroom. There was a note, too, one for the each of us. Did you get one?"_

 _Yashiro held out a folded piece of paper with 'Yashiro Tsukishima' written on it in childish crayon. Kanekatsu pulled a similar piece of paper out of the pocket of her lab coat to show me. I frowned. I hadn't seen anything like that, but on the other hand, that storage room was rather messy._

" _I didn't notice anything, but I suspect I just failed to notice it. I will go back and check." It would give me a specific point to investigate, which was something._

" _Then, we'll come with you." Kanekatsu decided._

 _I considered them both, then nodded once, curtly. It would be better to have more people with me until I'd worked out what the situation was, after all._

Thinking about that, I shook my head.

"No, it's fine. Let's do it. "

"Woo!" Hokuto cheered needlessly, though I liked the sentiment. I pushed open the door and went in, the others following behind me. I looked around for a moment, but quickly located the receptionist's desk, and strode straight to it, and looked over the top of the desk. The receptionist, a middle aged woman with dark blue hair tied in a bun, was busy taking a phone call, speaking in very rapid-fire Japanese, which I could only catch a few words of. She didn't notice us at first, but after a few moments her glance flicked up and registered us, and she held up her hand to signal that she'd take a minute. I nodded, and she returned to her phone call. I took a quick glance at her other colleagues who were also manning the desk, but they seemed equally absorbed in whatever they were doing at the computer, so I supposed I could wait.

And sure enough, a few moments later, she finished her call and looked at me.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"My name is Tyson De Guerre. Is Hideki Tsukishima in today at all?" I asked. The woman regarded me askance, and then she looked to her computer and quickly typed something in, and frowned at the screen for a moment before looking back up at me.

"Are you here for an interview?" she ventured. I shook my head.

"I'm not. I would just like to talk to him today, if that is possible."

"And what is it you wish to talk to him about?"

"His daughter."

"His…..I think you're mistaken. Tsukishima-san doesn't have a daughter."

 _Huh?_

That wasn't what I was expecting, but just as I was about to ask what she meant or simply correct her, one of the other receptionists-a bespectacled woman of a similar age- turned away from her computer.

"Onishi-san, what are you saying? Yes he does. Well, had, but she died a while ago, in that killing game thing that happened some years back. "

"Really? I've not heard anyone talk about it. Tsukishima-san certainly doesn't. "

"Yes, and if you want to keep your job, you probably shouldn't be the first to ask him. "The other woman said, before looking up at us. "Are you _all_ here to talk to Tsukishima-san about his daughter?"

"Yes, that's right, we are. " Akira spoke up.

"Well…would you like to pass on a message…?" the other woman asked.

"If that's absolutely necessary, then we will just do that." Akira said. "But if his schedule is free right now, then we would prefer to see him in person. Is that possible?"

"Who are you, exactly?"

"Friends of his daughter's." I said. "We have something relating to her that we want to give to him."

"Really now?" the receptionist raised a sceptical eyebrow. "How do I know that you're not just journalists or the like, looking to sell information?"

"Seriously?" Masashi sputtered.

"We can show you ID if you like, to vouch that we are who we say we are. My name is Akira Kazama, and the rest of us are Chieko Akamine, Wakana Abe, Masashi Kita, Noriko Edano and Hokuto Nanto." Akira interjected smoothly, pointing to the others in turn as he said their names. He didn't mention Shizuka, but then again the desk was high enough that the receptionists probably couldn't even see her. And she didn't seem particularly interested in announcing her presence either, simply clutching onto Yosa and looking around her with wide eyes.

"Yes, well, even if you were who you're all claiming to be, you're here on a fool's mission, whatever your motive. Whatever you want to hear about that poor child, you're certainly not going to get it from him."

"Could you just try? If you know he's there right now and he isn't in an important meeting, could you please contact him and ask? It's very important that I give this to him." I pleaded, holding up the package holding the painting.

"Oh, I'm sure it is." Onishi spoke up for the first time since her colleague had taken over. "But we're not going to fall for some cock-and-bull story, and just let you waltz in with whatever that is, and risk who knows what happening."

"He won't talk, so you'll have to look elsewhere for your story." The other receptionist said, looking me up and down. For a moment, I felt inadequate, even though I'd borrowed one of Akira's button down shirts and ditched my leather vest to look smarter for today. But more than that. I was confused.

 _What? Why would they even think that?_

"But we're not even journali-"

"I think it will be best if you leave now." The other receptionist said, completely ignoring Noriko. Masashi fumed noisily, which was understandable, but earnt us the glares of both receptionists. I sighed deeply, considering my options. I supposed I could leave the painting with them, but the way they had suddenly turned against us, I wasn't so sure that I could trust that it would make its way safely to Yashiro's father.

Besides, this was important to me. I needed to get it to him in person.

"Do we need to call security?" the other receptionist asked, picking up the phone as if to make a point. I shook my head quickly.

"No, no. Sorry to disturb you, Ma'am. We'll exit quickly." _Ah, what else can I do?_

"Good."

 **…**

We walked slightly down the road so that we wouldn't be spotted through the glass doors, but then we stepped to the side and stopped.

"Well. I suppose I'll need to ask you to arrange postage of this one. I'm sorry, everyone, for making you all come out this far. And this was meant to be our time and everything."

"It wasn't a problem."

"This is still part of our time together, De Guerre-Chan!" Wakana exclaimed. "But, you're right, it is kind of a disappointment. "

"What on earth was even up with those receptionists anyway?" Hokuto asked.

"They were mean! Why were they mean?" Shizuka asked. "I thought you were being nice, Ty-san."

"I'm not so sure, Miss Shizuka. I'm really not."

"Oh. Are you sad now?"

"A little bit, I suppose." I answered honestly. Shizuka frowned, and patted my hand consolingly.

"I'm more baffled by why they didn't even recognise us. Not that I go around wanting to be recognised for any reason but yeah, what on actual earth?" Masashi steamed.

"It is a bit strange that they recognised neither of your names." Chieko commented.

"I don't think we'll ever understand what they're thinking. And I don't think it's wise to start a scene over it. I guess it's time to give up." I concluded heavily.

"Alright then." Akira stuck his hands in his pockets. "Shall we hang around here for a while, or go straight home?"

"Hmm…"

We considered this, as the hustle and bustle of life went on around us, people rushing to place to place, traffic racing past on the road. For some reason, I found myself noticing one particular young woman in a smart blouse and skirt appearing to stride straight towards us as we hovered. Instinctively, I stepped to the side so she could go past us, but rather than do that when she noticed us, she indeed slowed.

"Oh, good, you didn't just leave. "She said when she'd come right up to us. "I _am_ right in asking if you were the group at the desk right now, am I?"

"…at Handa and Co?" Akira checked. The young woman nodded vigorously, looking very pleased.

"Perfect, I knew it!"

"Um…." I geared myself to ask, but the woman continued straight on.

"I can get you in, if you still want to try."

"I'm sorry?" I managed to say. The woman sighed long-sufferingly, but her expression still remained jubilant.

"If you want to see Tsukishima-san about Yacchi, then I can get you in."

* * *

 **Characters introduced this chapter:**

 **Dead**

 **Haruto Oshiro, Former SHSL Children's Book Author( actually his brother, Nobuyuki Oshiro, with no talent) (Belongs to: Dawnfire1551)**

 **And there we are, that's everybody finally introduced! I'll update my profile with a list of the characters and who they belong to for easy reference for those who have trouble remembering names. I'll separate it by alive and dead, though I won't distinguish between those who were murderers and those who were victims in the section for the dead. Anyway, this also means that I will soon be posting the first set of cast pictures on my Tumblr. These pictures will either be up later today, or at some point on Sunday. If you're interested in knowing specifics though, it's all the characters in their Hope's Peak uniforms. Ah, and I will be using the '#The SHSL Survivors' Society' tag when posting the images so you can easily find them on Tumblr. And of course, if you have any fanart of the characters and you have a Tumblr to post it on, please do also use the tag yourself-I am tracking it, and I'd love to see any art you have (if you don't have a Tumblr and you don't want to get one, PM me with instructions on how to find wherever you've uploaded the picture, and I'll post it on my Tumblr for you, since it'll be nice to have all the art in one place, so to speak ^^)**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always, please leave feedback!**


	17. Scraps of the Past 3

**SURPRISE!**

 **This is sort of an early update, but not exactly. This Scraps of the Past chapter was always going to be Chapter 16 (though here it shows up as the 17th chapter, technically), I just didn't expect it to end up between a multiparter chapter. So I decided since this has been finished for a long time (one of the Scraps of the Past chapters I'd mostly written in advance, back when the SYOC was still open, with minor edits made later on), I may as well upload it early, then the next part of the multiparter that started the previous chapter would come on Sunday, rather than have this come out on Sunday like a normal update and then have you all wait even longer for the continuation of last chapter, especially considering the cliffhanger.**

 **Anyway, I've got stuff to ask, so I'll save that for the end. Here's the chapter.**

* * *

At the mention of The Wishing Tree, Yashiro Tsukishima looked up from her book and over at the small group of her classmates standing a few desks away, eagerly chatting about it, apparently planning to go and see it. The plans sounded quite interesting, from what Yashiro could make out, and for a moment, she felt wistful.

"Ah, Tsukishima-Chan!" Yashiro startled as suddenly Wakana turned and spotted her. "Do you want to join us?"

Yashiro blinked and hesitated. _Me?_

"You're going over to see The Wishing Tree, right?" she asked carefully. Wakana nodded vigorously, making her messy ponytail swish about a little.

"Yeah, we are! None of us have ever seen it before, so we're pretty intrigued by the idea. And it is an intriguing idea, isn't it, Tsukishima-Chan? The fact that somebody would pour all their heart and soul into making this beautiful creation, something that people can connect their hopes and dreams too, and all without ever taking credit for it. It's inspirational!"

"And you're probably planning a new piece based on it?" Daisuke asked her, ice-blue eyes sparkling faintly in amusement. Wakana nodded, her smile increasing in volume and brightness.

"Naturally! Look forward to it in due time, okay, Daisuke-Chan?" she told the conductor, before turning back to Tsukishima. "Well, how about it?"

Yashiro thought about this. An after-school outing, with a group of friends. _That's what this is, right?_ She hadn't had many of those before, not even here at Hope's Peak yet. Not that she hadn't made friends at all-she had Kanekatsu for one thing, and she could tell from Wakana's manner that the composer considered her a friend, even if most of the time in the latter's case she just sat there and listened to her. But on an outing, one with a clear purpose, she wouldn't need to scramble too much to find something to say.

 _And besides,_ she thought to herself, _I'm rather intrigued by The Wishing Tree too._

"Alright, I'll come."

Five sets of eyes stared at her dumbly, and it took her a few moments to realise that she had spoken in Italian. Blushing, she repeated herself in Japanese.

"Ah, that's brilliant!" Wakana exclaimed. Yashiro smiled, despite her embarrassment, and gathered her things.

"So, how many of us that does that make…?" Wakana wondered aloud as Yashiro joined them.

"You and I, Kazama-san, Akamine-san and Ueda-kun, and now with Tsukishima-san, that makes six of us." Daisuke finished.

"Woo-hoo, Hitsuji-Chan is joining us!" Hibiki squealed, suddenly jumping at Yashiro and giving her a hug. Given the height difference, Yashiro was more than a little swamped, and she tried to extract herself, but with little success.

"Kazama-san, I believe you're strangling her." Daisuke pointed out calmly, much to Yashiro's relief. Hibiki let go of her, and after tucking some strands of black hair back behind her ear, she grinned sheepishly.

"Ah, sorry, Hitsuji-Chan."

"It's okay." Yashiro murmured, quietly ignoring the nickname. Though there was no other way Hibiki would have picked it up other than the Hope's Peak sub-forums, at least she was one of those that meant well when using it.

"Shouldn't we go now?" Koutarou put in suddenly. "I mean, if we wanna make good time and still get back before curfew-we're all on the on-campus accommodation, right?"

"Yes, that's right. We should get going." Daisuke agreed. "Has everyone got everything?"

When everyone confirmed they had, they made their way out of the school. Chieko, Hibiki and Wakana seemed to dominate most of the conversation, and Daisuke seemed to contribute a fair amount too. Koutarou wasn't as quiet as Yashiro was, but he seemed satisfied to just listen, and give a few gruff replies to something Chieko asked for him, which gave her a chance to hear more of the Osakan accent he had. She hadn't really encountered many of those before, so it was interesting to listen to. Then again, she'd heard a huge mix of accents here since coming, given the fact that so everyone was coming in from all parts of the country, and even from overseas, such as their class's Historian, not to mention their World War 1 Enthusiast.

Speaking of which…

"De Guerre-kun, are you alright?" Almost at the gate, Daisuke stopped them so he could go over to Tyson, who was leaning against the fence, apparently deep in thought. _And isolated,_ it occurred to Yashiro once again. It made a certain kind of sense. If for her, going to school had been a culture shock when she had finally been able to go, then she could imagine that coming to a new country, one whose language you still couldn't fully grasp, would be even more disorienting. Not that the grasping of a language had ever been the issue with her, but it was the same sort of principle.

Tyson blinked, as if coming out of a dream, and straightened up, smoothing out the non-existent wrinkles in his school uniform before saluting them.

"I am alright, thank you, sir!"

"Are you sure?" Wakana asked in concern. "You seem a little lonely, which isn't right."

"Thank you for your concern, Ma'am, bu-"

"Why don't you join us?" Yashiro asked him suddenly, cutting him off. _Wait, what did you do that for?_

"H-Hitsuji-Chan?!" Hibiki spluttered, eyeballing them both. Tyson hesitated for a moment, visibly contemplating his answer.

"And may I ask where it is you are headed to?"

"The Wishing Tree." Yashiro explained, in English. "Apart from Hope's Peak, it's one of the things that Towa City is famous for. It's a sculpture, basically, but one you can add your own wishes to."

"I see…" For a moment, Tyson looked a little flustered, eyes widening in surprise as he surveyed them all but then he quickly regained his composure as his gaze rested on Yashiro. She startled, wondering if she had said something wrong. Was it too forward, to offer an invitation like that to a boy?

"Well, if it pleases you, then I'll be more than happy to join this little tour, Tsukishima, Ma'am."

"That's….alright, isn't it?" she asked the others uncertainly, suddenly realising it wouldn't be fair to decide for them. Wakana beamed.

"Of course it is!"

"Yeah!" Hibiki crowed in agreement.

"The more the merrier, right?" Chieko reasoned.

"Mhm." Yashiro internally breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently it was fine. _This group is mixed in the first place, of course it wouldn't matter that De Guerre is a boy!_ Of course, that was hardly the point, so she pushed aside the questions and concentrated on enjoying herself as they went to the train station and looked for the right train, before going to the platform and waiting.

The conversation picked up where it left off, more or less, and though Yashiro said very little herself anyway, she did occasionally pipe up to help Tyson out by translating something one of the others had said, or suppling him with the word he was looking for when he seemed to be struggling. Just little things, pretty standard for her, but by the time the train arrived and they had got on it, Hibiki was exploding with questions about them, which left her quite flustered (and it was no consolation that Tyson wasn't doing much better).

"Maybe it's just me, but I think ya overthinkin' things, Kazama-san." Koutarou commented languidly after a few moments of this.

"But…." Hibiki pouted expressively, planting her hands on her hips. "I just want to know, that's all! You guys are so different! It's _interesting_!"

"It is interesting, certainly, but I think you're alarming both of them." Daisuke pointed out calmly. "Also, other passengers are staring."

"Oh….." Hibiki rubbed the back of her head. "Whoops!"

Hibiki laughed awkwardly, which made Chieko and Wakana giggle too. Yashiro blushed, and nervously looked around.

It didn't seem like _all_ of them were staring (at least, not explicitly so), which was a relief, but out of those that were, she noticed they were around their age and dressed in the black-and-white uniform that marked them out as Hope Valley High students. Uncomfortable with the vague distaste she noticed on their faces, she turned back to her friends.

"You're so silly, Hibiki-Chan!" Chieko admonished a shame-faced Hibiki.

"Ehehe…" Hibiki drooped for a moment in a slightly mushroom-growing manner (as the Towa City saying apparently went), but quickly perked up and shook it off.

"If you're really interested in knowing, then in truth, we have not really talked that often. But she has offered me help in grasping your language. And also revealed to me the connection between my name and your language, which was a revelation to me." Tyson said after a moment.

"Connection?" Koutarou raised an eyebrow.

"Not a connection so much as a coincidence." Yashiro clarified. "Between the pronunciation of De Guerre's given name and the word ' _Taisen_ '."

"Ohhhh." Chieko and Wakana said in unison, eyes wide.

"Wouldn't've made that connection myself, but I suppose that's why you're the linguist." Koutarou shrugged.

Yashiro couldn't tell if he was impressed or not, but all the same she blushed and tried to brush it away as not being a big deal, because it hardly was. If people asked her for help with grasping a language, she helped them. It was what made sense, given she had the tools to do so.

Well of course, there was probably the whole detail of how she hadn't pointed out the coincidence to Tyson while actually doing that, but in a similarly spontaneous manner to how she'd invited him on this very outing. But she wasn't going to mention that. Everything was already too strange.

"I can understand why that'd be pleasing to you, given your talent." Daisuke reasoned. "Speaking of which, I've been meaning to ask for a while what it involves, being a World War 1 Aficionado."

"My apologies, Ueno, sir, but I'm not sure what you're asking. "

"Well, honestly, I'm not sure where I'd start. Why not start with telling us what sparked your interest in the period?"

"Well, it was back when I was a little boy…."

For the rest of the train ride, and for some of the walk after they'd got off, they listened to Tyson regale them with tales of the events that had led him to this passion, and all the things he had learnt about this portion of history. Yashiro was mainly glad to be out of the limelight again, but it was quite interesting to listen to, even as some of the details flew over her head. _Everyone in my class is so colourful and different._

"Ah, I believe it's at the end of this road, around the corner." Daisuke interrupted suddenly. Wakana had her phone out, and appeared to have a map of the area displayed on it, and Daisuke leaned in to look at it, the height discrepancy between them making it seem almost as if he were a tree seeking to shelter her. The observation amused Yashiro until she remembered that at only a foot taller than Wakana, people towered over her quite easily.

"Yep! We're nearly there!" Hibiki proclaimed, running ahead. "I'm so excited!"

"This tree really does seem quite popular." Tyson looked around at the sheer number of people strolling in the same direction as them.

"Yeah, from what I've read, it is further-rather popular, especially since we can interact with it and all." Chieko agreed. "Say, is everyone going to add their own wish to the tree or…?"

Yashiro nodded almost immediately, and everyone else also agreed that they would, which in some of their cases surprised her a little. _What would they wish for? More to the point, what would I wish for?_

"Will it matter awfully if I was to write my wish in English, rather than Japanese?" Tyson inquired, frowning sceptically as they neared the end of the road.

"I…..don't think so?" Chieko replied after a beat, clearly puzzled.

"Why would it?" Koutarou queried.

"I shouldn't think it would." Yashiro answered him. "There are a lot of foreign visitors to the city in general, not just The Wishing Tree. I wouldn't be surprised if there were wishes written in languages from across the world."

Tyson nodded at that, seeming relieved.

"That's good, then."

At that moment, Yashiro knew what her wish would be: _for the rest of my time at Hope's Peak to be like this._

Suddenly, Hibiki, who had continued to run ahead of them, stopped suddenly, and tilted her head to the side.

"Hibiki-Chan?" Wakana called out as they got nearer. Hibiki spun around and stared at them, her magenta eyes round with puzzlement. She called something out to them, but it was lost in the noise of the crowd of people still between them. _Speaking of which…._

"Looks like something's happening." Wakana commented. "Everyone's suddenly-oh!"

"Wakana?" Daisuke asked, concerned as she suddenly wobbled. Yashiro too suddenly felt the ground tremble underneath her, and if it wasn't for the fact it was momentary, it may well have toppled her.

"Did you feel that?" Wakana asked incredulously, quickly straightening herself without difficulty. "There was a tremor!"

"GUYS! DID YOU FEEL THE GROUND SHAKING?!" Hibiki yelled suddenly, just as they all managed to catch up to her. "IS THERE AN EARTHQUAKE?"

"We're right in front of you now, you know." Koutarou muttered, though he was clearly concerned too.

"I don't think Towa's near any fault lines…" Daisuke looked around them, at the people who had also sensed something was wrong and who seemed to be backing away from the area quickly. Yashiro started to fiddle with her sleeves as she wondered what could be the problem.

"And I'm not so sure it's an earthshake-earthquake, either." Chieko added, clinging to Koutarou's sleeve.

"Perhaps we should go to the source of the matter and see what is at the bottom of this, if I may say so?" Tyson suggested.

"That's dangerous, isn't it?!" Hibiki asked, alarmed.

"Let's go around the corner at least, since we're pretty much there, and that's our destination anyway." Chieko reasoned. The others conferred for a minute, but since the ground was still again, they decided to go ahead.

Seconds later, all of a sudden there was a massive _WHOOSH_ , followed by a series of something that sounded like thunderclaps, and everything became chaotic.

All of them blown backwards, Yashiro was knocked off of her feet quickly, hitting the ground hard, sprawled out. A shrieking Hibiki landed almost on top of her, trapping her. Noise roared around her, but she couldn't see any of her other friends, and from where she had landed, she couldn't see much of anything else either. _It's hot. It's too hot._

 _What? What's going on? Why is it so hot? Why is everyone screaming?!_ People rushed all around her, scrambling to get away and Yashiro swore she could smell smoke, but she couldn't understand it. Still able to move one of her arms, she quickly tucked her hand underneath her to prevent someone else from stepping on it.

"K-Kazama…you're…." She murmured, trying to get the Voice Actor's attention and failing. _What's going on?_

"Kazama-san, here, come, step back, quickly!" Daisuke's voice came suddenly, and a familiar hand tugged Hibiki off of her. "De Guerre-kun, take care of Tsukishima-san!"

"Yes, sir!"

Suddenly, the weight of her classmate was lifted off of her and led away, Tyson standing in front of her, uniform creased and dirty. Cautiously, she sat up, her body aching, and she looked around. Around her, others were also huddling in groups, or peering out of shop windows, many either on the phone or using their phones to film whatever was happening, which she still could not _quite_ see. But there was a large cloud of smoke hanging above where The Wishing Tree should have been, and the words she was hearing bandied around in terror gave her a clue as to what was happening.

"Are you alright, Ma'am? Can you stand?"

"I…think so." Experimentally moving her limbs, Yashiro soon concluded that nothing was broken, just bruised, and she hesitantly started to get up. But almost as soon as she stood, her legs started to shake, threatening to give out. Tyson, still watching her, moved quickly and before she could compute what was going on, he had scooped her up in his arms and was striding quickly away from the chaos.

"Forgive me for my impertinence, Ma'am." He said brusquely. "But I thought it would be best to get out of the way quickly, and you appeared to be in need of some assistance."

"S-sure." Yashiro stuttered out, not sure what else to say. Luckily, a few seconds later, Tyson strode through the doors of a small café, and let her down before starting to pace up and down, agitated. Taking a moment to orient herself, she quickly spotted the others, crowded around a table. Chieko and Koutarou were sitting close together, both looking shaken but none the worse for wear, though Koutarou in particular seemed…angrier. Wakana was sitting next to her, using a first-aid kit to attend to a gash on Daisuke's arm, while he in turn was attempting to soothe Hibiki, who was sobbing hysterically, body trembling violently as she tightly gripped the smashed pieces of a phone.

"I-I want Rika-chin! I…" she said, over and over again, resistant to the efforts.

"Tsukishima-san." Koutarou looked at her as she took the empty chair on the other side of him. "Are you alright?"

"Mhm," she replied. "Bruised a little, but not hurt. "

"Ah. Yeah, that's the same for most of us, right, Moyashi?" he nodded at Chieko, who agreed.

"Um, yeah, pretty much so I guess. It helps we'd only just got around the corner and all. Ueno-kun got the worst of it though-he was hit by part of the falling tree, and De Guerre-kun narrowly escaped one." She explained. "But still, even that wasn't so bad, considering the circumstances…."

Chieko trailed off, the optimistic smile falling from her face as she looked around her. Yashiro followed her gaze and for the first time noticed that there were other small groups dotted around the café, all looking shocked and devastated, with varying degrees of injury. A harried looking woman in an apron-the café owner, presumably- was rushing around between them all, and when she came up to their group, she stopped and regarded them.

"I've called emergency services, but I doubt I'm the only one whose done so, given the scale of the disaster. But in any case, you're all welcome to stay here until you get the all clear to go to the hospital or back to school. "

"Thank you," Daisuke said, getting up. Wakana closed up the first-aid kit and handed it to him, and he gave it to the café owner. "Here you go. Thank you for letting us use this. "

"Not a problem!" the café owner said, before rushing over to a bunch of teenagers from a different high school to help them out. Once she was out of earshot, they stared at each other. Hibiki was still sniffling, but she was calmer, though her hands trembled and she still held her phone tightly.

"We…don't need to go to hospital, do we?" she asked fearfully.

"I think we got off relatively easy, considering." Tyson stopped pacing and came over to join in. "But from the carnage, I don't think everyone has been so lucky."

"Oh no." Chieko shook her head vehemently. "Oh god, I hope nobody's died from this, but….."

"It seems a likely possibility. I'm sure we'll find out in due course. But in any case, Kazama-san," Daisuke turned his attention to Hibiki. "My phone is still intact, so I'll call Kazama-kun for you now, alright?"

"Y-yeah…..thank you…."

Daisuke nodded and smiled reassuringly at her, before going all business-like again, taking out his phone and taking a few steps away from making the call. Tyson looked as if he was going to start pacing again, but instead, he sighed heavily and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and frowning. Yashiro wondered if she should go up to him, say something comforting along the lines of how at least they and the others in the café with them were alright and that help was coming, in the way that Chieko and Wakana were now doing with Hibiki, with better success this time. But somehow she couldn't quite find the exact words or the courage to do so, so she sighed and fiddled with her sleeves, keeping her head down as she listened to everyone else talking about the incident, their words crossing over.

 _How….why? Why would somebody do this to The Wishing Tree? Of all the things?_ Idly, she wondered if Kanekatsu had ever used her forensic talents in relation to scenes at bombings, what she might understand about why someone would do this. Perhaps, when they were safely back at school, she would ask, assuming that Kanekatsu was back from her date by then and wasn't doing something else. _Oh. I should probably phone Father later, and Haruhi too. They'll probably worry, if they see the news._

Flashing lights and sirens stole her attention then, and she looked up to see that finally, help had arrived. Paramedics, firefighters, the police-all of them sprang into action, helping people away and securing the scene. The owner of the café they were in ran out to alert them to the fact that they had injured people with them, and even at her distance from the window, she noticed that many others were doing the same. Perhaps that was a good thing, that so many people had had similar ideas in seeking safety. But what would she know about that sort of thing? All she really knew was language.

And even that was failing her now, where it was most needed.

Carefully, Yashiro pushed herself up, and wandered to the window, and watched them. Even with the firefighters working hard to reduce it, smoke still billowed into the air from a column of flames, dancing menacingly. She could see some of the gold 'branches' of the tree on the ground, twisted and snapped-paramedics were working to lift one off of a middle-aged seeming man on the ground, and the paper wishes that hadn't been burnt into ashes already were torn, trampled into the ground, illegible. Seeing the destruction properly like that made her think of her own wish.

And as she leaned her forehead against the glass and kept watching, she wondered if after this, it could really come true.

* * *

 **I just realised it's actually quite fitting that it's a Yashiro-centric Scraps of the Past chapter that crops up now, since the multiparter (should I call it a mini-arc?) is also Yashiro related. And it is nice to put up a Scraps of the Past chapter when it is 'scheduled' for rather than bringing it forward. I know that there'll probably be points in the future I'll be bringing forward to the Now, for two questions that will probably branch of into about a zillion sub-questions and take a whole paragraph to explain...:**

 **-First, do you remember me proposing an idea of an extra kind of special chapter called 'Killer Moment' chapters, centred around the killers when they killed? Well, I've decided to go with it, and I'm thinking of writing and putting up the first one soon-ish (but not before the latest multiparter is over). So the question is, which killer do you think should be the focus of the first 'Killer Moments' chapter? And given that I'm trying to arrange these based on how much information I've already given about the relevant case, I guess this is also a question about which case you know the most about too. And actually, how much do you think you know about the killing game and the things that happened? I'm considering a couple of possibilities as to who should have their 'Killer Moments' chapter come first, but your comments would help a lot in making that final decision!**

 **-The second question isn't really going to be incorporated into the story, but is just something I've been wondering about. Basically, for those of you have characters in the story, what do you think would have happened if their fate was the opposite to the one you gave them? So if you sent me a dead character, what do you think they'd be like if they'd survived, what would they be doing etc.? And if your character was a survivor, if you'd sent them in as a dead character, would they have been a victim or a killer? What would you have had their circumstances of death be? How would they have been grieved? And I guess this takes on an extra layer when it comes to those of you who sent a pair of related characters where one survived and one died, in that how do you think the dead character would have coped as a survivor, without their very important person, and again the more general things about what they'd be up to and what they'd be like. You don't HAVE to answer this if you don't want to, and if you did want to you don't need to do it in a review, you can do it in a PM if you want, and you don't need to be as detailed as the actual filling-in of the form. But yeah, if you were wanting to answering this question, I'd be really interested in seeing what are essentially the alternate histories of your characters.**

 **So that's all my rambling done for the chapter. I am making good progress with the next actual chapter, so you will definitely see it on Sunday. In the meantime, I hope you aren't all melting in this heat and that you enjoyed this chapter!**


	18. A Thousand Words, part 2

**And, here it is! I hope you enjoy it :)**

* * *

 _Tyson_

For a moment, we all just stared at this woman. She appeared the same age as us, with cinnamon coloured eyes and an overall cheerful appearance, but nothing was familiar about her.

"Okay, just to clarify," Akira broke the silence. "You're talking about Yashiro Tsukishima-san, aren't you?"

The girl sighed heavily.

"Yes, I am. Oh, right." She laughed sheepishly. "My name's Haruhi Kisaragi-just Haruhi's fine. But yeah, I was a friend of Yacchi's. At school, before Hope's Peak. I never actually met any of you in person before…well, you know. But I caught the tail end of your conversation with Onishi-san and Himeki-san and I figured it out. Plus, I recognised you from pictures and what Yacchi talked about to me and stuff, you know? So after they messed up royally, I thought it was worth checking if you were still around, and trying again."

"I…see. But from the sounds of it it'll get you into trouble." I pointed out. Haruhi nodded.

"Well yeah, I'm going to sneak you around the back so that we don't have to deal with the dense dragons, but I can smooth the way."

Noriko and Hokuto giggled at the 'dense dragons' bit, and Haruhi turned to grin at them, before turning to me. I opened my mouth to ask something, but Masashi interrupted me.

"What do you even do anyway, that you're so confident you'll be able to get away with sneaking us to see Tsukishima-tan's dad?"

"Ah, officially, I'm not much more than your standard low-level admin girl" Haruhi laughed. "I did get this job fresh out of uni, after all. Unofficially…to be honest, I'm the closest Tsukishima-san has to a secretary."

"Meaning?" I asked. Haruhi's grin faded away for a moment.

"He doesn't have one. You'd expect someone in such a high up position as his to have a secretary or a personal assistant or _something_ , and I know he did a long time ago, back when Yacchi was still around. Probably even met whoever she was once or twice when going to visit Yacchi. But when I joined here, he didn't anymore. Some of the others who worked here said he fired the assistant he had, not long after Yacchi's funeral. He took care of everything, literally _everything_ himself. He basically lived at his desk. Still does now, actually. But at least now, from time to time, I can actually persuade him to go home every so often, even if it's just to sleep. And I make sure he remembers to eat, and I do a few little bits for him when he lets me. So yeah, unofficial secretary, that's me. It's not exactly a privilege, but we've got Yacchi in common so like hell I'm about to drop this. He wouldn't take care of himself otherwise, I just know it."

"Uh….but the receptionists said he doesn't like people talking about his daughter…." Noriko asked, confused.

"Yeah, that's right. He doesn't. And he doesn't talk of her at all. And if the receptionists mentioned being worried for their jobs if they mentioned her, they're kind of right. Once, there was this one guy, came in for a job interview, IT support or something, but it was one of the interviews that Tsukishima-san sat in on. The guy has the qualifications and experience whatnot, presented himself well in the interview, had clearly done his research, all of that. But his research threw up some stuff about Yacchi, and when he was asked if he had any questions, that's what he asked about, like he'd planned it. And well, he didn't get the job. Moment the guy left the room, Tsukishima-san ripped up his application. I don't think the guy ever knew what it was he'd done, but yeah." Haruhi shrugged helplessly at this.

"But he lets his daughter's old friend join the company?" Masashi asked. I couldn't blame him, those two facts did seem to contradict each other. Though the person in Haruhi's story sounded so spectacularly insensitive I suspected he was more an outlier. _Still, that gives a good sense of what I might be dealing with._ Certainly, he would be different from everyone else we'd met so far. _But that won't stop me._

"Well…It's not like I applied here in the first place _because_ he's Yacchi's father. I was just applying for whatever, and I was pleased to get an interview in the first place. Then I did my research and realised and thought _oh, damn_. But I went for it anyway. "

"So what happened?" Masashi pressed. Haruhi shrugged once again and pulled a face.

"He recognised me, and acknowledged that precisely once, but made it clear that it wasn't going to happen again. But we still kinda dance around the topic, without ever breathing her name. Which is why I chased you down in the first place." Haruhi sighed and looked up at the sky for a moment, before pulling herself together and grinning at us.

"And actually, _that's_ the point here, not me, but _you_. He'll probably be pretty harsh with you, but I think it'll be worth it so…what is it you want to talk about anyway?"

"Not talk, as such," I corrected. "But I have a painting of Tsukishima. I've done paintings of all of our classmates who didn't make it out with us, and we've been trying to get them to their loved ones. Any that we can't give in person we're making arrangements to send, but for Tsukishima's loved ones in particular, I really want to have hers given in in person."

"Hmmm. Huh." Haruhi considered me. "Yacchi told me, that you joined her and a bunch of others to see the Wishing Tree, on the same day it blew up. You carried her to safety when she was too shaken to walk properly. She told me that she was the one who invited you, too. I teased her quite a bit about that little detail, the poor girl. "

"I…." _I…..I did that? Why? Basic human decency, or because she was that important to me? And she invited me?_ I knew about that day, that I'd been there and witnessed it. Indeed, when we'd gone past the site just a few days ago there was a deep apprehension in my bones that had felt oddly familiar. But even so. All I remembered from before the killing game was a sense of distance and isolation between myself and the rest of the class. I couldn't match those true feelings with these things I knew to be equally true but had no memory of.

"That does sound like a thing you'd do, De Guerre-Chan." Wakana agreed.

"'Sound like a thing'? No, wait, never mind. Sorry." Haruhi laughed awkwardly. "That's such a hard thing to get your head around, you know? But yeah, the painting, that sounds like a lovely thing to do…something like that, I think Tsukishima-san needs it. So yeah, I'll take you, and I'll smooth the way."

"How are you going to sneak eight of us in?" Masashi asked. Haruhi tilted her head.

"Well, I'm not. That'd be impossible. Just you." She pointed at me.

"That's fair enough. " I agreed, then turned to my friends. "Then what are you guys going to do?"

"Ah, we can figure something out-"Akira said, but Haruhi interrupted him.

"Well, if you go down that way, there's a mall a few blocks down, it's got a good food court and a play area that the little one might like. And further down the same way, there's a decent park with a few cafes around it. I sometimes go there with some of the girls from my department for lunch."

"Sounds good to me."Akira nodded.

"Ah, but then how will we know when he's finished?!" Noriko asked.

"I can wait here, it's no problem." Wakana suggested. "Then when De Guerre-Chan's come out, I'll message you and we can meet up again."

"Huh. That could work." Masashi considered.

"What will you do though, Wakana-Chan?" Chieko asked. Wakana pointed at a book store across the road.

"I can kill some time there, and then I can just wait around here. It's not a problem."

"Well, that sounds reasonable to me." Akira nodded. "Then, that's what we'll do."

 **…**

 _Wakana_

Just as Tyson was about to leave with Haruhi, Hokuto made an unexpected request.

"Hey, Haruhi-Chan, are you okay with exchanging contact information?"

Masashi spluttered, and Noriko went bug eyed with surprise, but the rest of us just waited. Though I was sure that we were all as surprised, just less visibly than the two of them.

"Hmm?" Apparently not having noticed the reactions, Haruhi tilted her head for a moment as she tried to make sense of the request, but then suddenly giggled.

"Oh, I knew I was right about you. Sure. I don't have my phone on me though, it's locked up at my desk."

"No problem, just stick your contact info in mine." Hokuto took out her phone, fiddled a moment with it, and then held it out to her. Haruhi smiled and took it, and took a few moments before handing it back. Hokuto smiled at her.

"I'll text you later, okay?"

"Sure thing, Nanto-san."

"Oh, just call me Ho-Chi." Hokuto's eyes glittered happily, and I felt something sharp in my chest at how easily she seemed to be pursuing whatever it was she sought in doing this.

"Well then, sure thing, Ho-Chi. Well, we'd better get on with it, hadn't we?" Haruhi threw a look at Tyson at this last sentence, and he nodded quickly.

"Indeed, Ma'am." He turned to look at us. "I'll see you all in a while, then."

"Good luck!" I said to him. He nodded at me, and then turned to follow Haruhi. We watched for a minute as they walked, and then I turned to the rest of them.

"Well, I guess I'll see you all in a while as well, then."

"Wakana-Chan, are you sure?" Chieko asked, frowning slightly.

"Well, we can't all loiter in the bookshop, but we can't all block up the street, and it wouldn't be fair for De-Guerre-Chan to come out and have to find us on his own. So, I'll wait. It's fine, really."

It wasn't _fine_ , exactly. I didn't want to be alone, I wanted to be with my friends. But still, at the same time, this was something I was fine with, for the same reasons I had just outlined to Chieko. She pursed her lips at this, and considered. I felt a tugging at my skinny jeans, and I looked down at Shizuka. She'd taken Yosa out of her little bag, and held him up to me.

"Yosa can keep you company today, if you want." Shizuka offered. I couldn't help but smile, and bent down to hug her.

"That's very nice of you, thank you, Shizuka-Chan." When I let go of her, I took Yosa from her hands and carefully tucked him in my own handbag.

"You're right, doing it like this probably makes the most sense. Text or call if you need something, though. We'll probably be in the mall that Haruhi-san described to us, but even so." Akira said. I nodded.

"Yeah, I've got it, thanks. See you later."

They walked down in the direction Haruhi had pointed them in, and I headed straight for the crossing that would take me across the road to the bookshop. A small group of teenagers, an uneven mix of girls and boys, were waiting on the other side of the crossing, chatting animatedly. When the green man showed, they practically bounded across the road, their chatter not dulling even slightly, and the moment they passed me, it felt like time slowed and stopped for a moment. I kept moving, even so, but in that thick moment, the voices seemed to distort, and one of them sounded like mine, and another sounded like Daisuke's, as I remembered us sounding back then.

 _Daisuke-Chan…_

I stumbled to the pavement, then whipped around to look at them. They, too, had reached their other side, and were making their way down the road, still laughing. One girl had to adjust her large floppy-rimmed sunhat as it almost fell off her head with the motion; a boy stuck his tongue out childishly at another girl's mock-annoyed comment while another boy shook his head in baffled amusement; the others just seemed to be blissfully happy. _Did I look like that, once?_ Perhaps I had. Perhaps we all had. I wanted to run back across the road, back after them, take a closer look and see if I would be able to see myself as well as hear myself, and if their appearance would be familiar to me.

And more than that, I wanted to tell them to hold onto it tightly, to engrave these little moments so deep within themselves so that when the years passed and they weren't all together anymore, they would still remember what they were like, that they would still recognise themselves in the snapshots of these days. I wanted to say something, anything, that would mean that seven years into the future, they would not be doing what I was doing now, standing paralysed as I watched my past and what could have been run across the road.

But I did not.

Instead, I took a deep breath and waited until they had completely disappeared from my sight. Then, I carefully and deliberately turned away, took the few steps up to the bookshop and opened the door to let myself in. At a quick glance, it was large and open-plan, and had another floor to it too. I couldn't actually see any staff, but I could hear them bustling about, a couple talking about something to do with the stock, so I knew there were people around.

There was a sign affixed to the wall next to the staircase, and I headed straight for it and read it. According to the sign, the floor I was on boasted fiction, children's' books, stationery and book-related gifts, while the other floor had all the different possible categories of non-fiction, and a small reading area for people to sit and relax. _Hmm….children's books._ Yesterday still in my mind, I decided that was where I'd start, and looked around for a moment before spotting a large sign above some shelving, and walking there.

To my surprise, there were still a few Haruto Oshiro books on the shelves, dotted here and there in a few different places depending upon whether they were picture books or actual chapter books, though it seemed that Oshiro (well, his brother) had mostly done picture books. _That's nice._ I had no idea how long it had to be before a book could go out of print and booksellers would stop selling it if it wasn't a classic or anything like that, but still, I was glad after all these years that Oshiro's books were still selling. I pulled out one or two, flicked through the pages, reading some of them properly but mostly just scanning them. When I slotted the books back on their place in the shelves, I noticed that there was a small display set up promoting a children's author's new book series, and I glanced at it. To my surprise, the author's name was written in katakana rather than kanji, and when I took a closer look, I realised that the name was a foreign one, which explained it: Raye Northstar.

 _Northstar?_ The surname snagged at something in my mind, and I thought, waiting for the connection to be made. _Northstar, North Star….oh! Ho-Chi's name._ I was pretty sure that was what Hokuto's name meant in English. _Huh._ I was sure it didn't mean anything as such, but it was still a funny coincidence. I picked up one of the books on the display, and flicked through the back. As I'd suspected, on the inside of the back cover, there was a small author's biography which stated that Northstar was an American of Japanese descent, and that she wrote in both Japanese and English, though it didn't tell me where she was currently living. It also listed a number of the other books she'd already written. There was no photo, so there was no way to know what she looked like, but that didn't matter. I closed the book, but then found myself flicking through it again. _Maybe for Shizuka-Chan…._ but it looked like the target audience of the books were upper elementary school aged children, so I shrugged and put it back, and then I wandered into the other sections, and took a look through them all.

I picked up a couple of novels that I thought looked interesting, and in the stationery section I found some books of music staffs, so that I could write some ideas for songs I'd been thinking of. It wasn't as if I didn't usually have such notebooks, but I hadn't brought any with me, thinking that I could take a break from composing completely. But of course, when ideas came, they came. And with the different memories being stirred up, I was getting more ideas than I'd anticipated. Mostly little snatches of melodies, a few floating notes I thought would sound good strung together, nothing like a full piece, but all the same, they were just waiting to be jotted down. I did have an app on my phone I used sometimes, but even so, I liked to write out the pieces by hand as part of the process.

Since I wanted to start using one of the notebooks straight away, I went to the till and paid before heading upstairs to see what the reading area looked like. It turned out to take up about a quarter of the floor space, and consisted of a number of small armchairs, some paired with low coffee tables, others without. There were a few people using some of the armchairs, all of them by themselves, but there were still plenty free. It also happened to be on the side of the building which overlooked the street, and when I went up to the window, I realised that I could see where we'd been standing just moments ago, and that ever-so-slightly out of view was the Handa and Co building. _Perfect._ I took a free armchair that was nearest to the window, and put my things down on the coffee table next to it. Then, I dug a pen out of my handbag, got one of the empty notebooks, opened it to the first page, and waited for the tune to form in my head.

 **…**

 _Masashi_

After a while of wandering around the mall, gotten bored of looking in shops, and apart from Noriko finding a rainbow-coloured t-shirt that had caught her eye, we hadn't brought anything, so we decided to head for the food court.

"It's around lunchtime, so shall we have our lunch?" Akira asked.

"I'm fine with whatever." I said instantly.

"Yeah, I am hungry, so I don't really care either way, so long as I can get some food in me." Hokuto said.

"Hmmm, but I want to wait for Wakana-Chan and De Guerre-kun first." Chieko objected, before turning to Shizuka. "Shizuka, are you hungry?"

"Yes, but not lunch-hungry." Shizuka replied. "Can we have ice-cream? Or a cookie?"

Shizuka looked up innocently at Chieko as she asked this, and I couldn't help but snicker at it. Though I knew full well I'd cave in right away if she gave me such a look while asking for ice-cream or cookies. _You sap, Masashi._

"Shizuka!" Chieko spluttered for a moment, and then laughed. "We'll see."

"Okay." Shizuka shrugged, and returned to looking around at the hustle and bustle as we continued walking.

"Do you think De Guerre-kun will be okay?" Chieko wondered.

"Why wouldn't he be?" Hokuto asked.

"Well, from the sounds of it, Tsukishima-san's father could be…..I don't know, less than welcoming. I know that Kisara- ah, Haruhi-san's going to smooth the way. But even so, can you imagine that someone who might have possibly fired people for asking about her is going to be kind to him?"

Well, that was a point. I opened my mouth to say something, but Noriko beat me to it.

"That's…a good point." Noriko agreed. "But I think he'll be fine. De Guerre-kun can handle himself. "

"That is true." It wasn't what I had been about to say, but who cared? It was still true. I rubbed the back of my head absently, then let my hand fall back to my side, at which point Shizuka hesitantly curled her own little fingers around it. I looked down at her, and she stared up at me, biting her lip hesitantly. I grinned at her, and she smiled back, holding on more confidently.

"Yes, it is. Let's just hope for the best." Akira concluded.

"I suppose so." Chieko nodded.

"Oh, here's the food court! I'll bag us seats!" Noriko said suddenly, running ahead. Hokuto joined her, and the rest of us followed at a more sane pace. Akira walked slightly ahead of us, and Chieko and I were the last in line, such as it were, Shizuka walking between us, holding our hands. _This. I want more moments like this in my life._ I did my best not to blush as we arrived at the two three-seater tables that Noriko and Hokuto had bagged for us. Chieko let go of Shizuka's hand to sit down, and so I did the same, sitting on the seat opposite her, so that Shizuka could sit in between us, while Akira, Noriko and Hokuto took the other table.

"Mummy, look!" Shizuka pointed at the stall that was next to our tables. I looked over as well, and I realised it was a stall whose main selling point seemed to be cookies. _Of course it is._ Chieko shook her head in mock amusement, but I just laughed, and I stood up and pointed.

"Do you know what, I feel like having cookies too." I told Shizuka. "Let's get some together."

"Ah, you don't nee-"

"Mummy, you can have some too!" Shizuka interrupted Chieko, and then looked at me. "Right, Masa-san?"

 _Holy crap, I really am sappy. But why would I not be? This is what I want, a life that looks like this. With both of them._

"Sure thing."

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

We all ended up getting cookies instead of an actual lunch. Probably an incredibly irresponsible thing to do, but I didn't really care. It was not often we got to do things like this together. And we should have had that chance in the past, but we hadn't. It was taken away from us. So it felt right, to do silly things like having cookies for lunch while we were all together. The stall also sold ice-creams and cakes, so I ended up getting a small cone, Noriko got a considerably larger (and disturbingly wobbly) cone, while Masashi got two small sundaes.

"Here you go, Akamine-tan." He put one of the sundaes down in front of Chieko, who looked at it, halfway through a mouthful of chocolatey cookie. She chewed rapidly and then swallowed before speaking.

"For me? Why?"

"Eh, why not?" Masashi shrugged casually, though he was starting to splutter. Chieko looked at him, slightly confused, but then her expression softened.

"Thanks, Kita-kun."

"Ah, no problem. " Masashi grinned, a little calmer now, and sat down with his own sundae. As he ate it, I could see how pleased he looked, and I had to hold back a grin. Okay, an ice-cream sundae was hardly a _confession_ , but still. _What a cute moment._

"Whatcha grinning at?" Noriko asked me.

"Oh, nothing." I said airily. "Nothing at all."

"Oookay then." Noriko raised an eyebrow, but returned her attention to her precarious ice-cream cone.

"Yo, Akira-tan, want one of these?" Masashi called out to Akira suddenly. _Ah, come on, seriously? You had a little special moment there!_ On the other hand, I was possibly making too big of a deal over this. _But, it's only because I'm rooting for him…_

"No, it's fine, I might get one later." Akira said.

"Oh, okay." Masashi shrugged and continued to eat his ice-cream, while talking with Akira, Chieko and Shizuka. Noriko and I butted in a few times, but we mostly chatted to each other for a while, about silly, light topics. Eventually though, given that my ice-cream was a lot simpler than Noriko's I finished it well before her, and after wiping my hands and face with the tissues that I had, I looked around for the nearest bin.

"I'll be back in a moment." I told them when I spotted, getting up. I ambled over to the bin, swerving a few people as I did so. In the last few moments it seemed the food court had filled up considerably, so of course by the time I got to the actual bin there were people with trays of rubbish from their meals, and they all took their sweet time in emptying them. But I did eventually get to the bin, and I quickly dumped my tissues and proceeded to head back to my seat.

 _Huh?_

I whipped around, trying to locate what, or who, had suddenly caught my eye. For a moment, I was convinced that I had imagined it, but then, a glimpse of a slim figure striding across the food court, a flash of dark hair and an intense, serious face. _Could it be?_ The person was too far away, kept disappearing in crowds and reappearing only in brief glances, getting further and further away, but the more I looked, the more I found that I could match those little snatches of image to the blurry photo of Rei. If the photo was made clear, and aged seven years, then…. _it could be, couldn't it?_

 _But…_

I could just move on. It was hard to tell when you were talking the logistics of visiting a dead classmate's parent, but Haruhi seemed nice, plus she was cute. Her smile was a touch too goofy, but I liked it a lot. _And_ I'd got her phone number, so there was definitely the opportunity to get to know her better. I didn't need to be chasing after a girl I didn't even remember. _But I need to know. I need to know what happened._ Rei was the past, and somebody like Haruhi could be the future. And I had promised to not let the past consume me. I was supposed to be moving on, focusing on the present and the future.

 _But how can I? How can I focus on the future, if I don't know what happened. If I don't know whether I should care about her, or forget her._

The woman, whether it was Rei or someone else, was almost out of sight. _No. No, I can't._ I could still see her, but if I stayed any longer, then I knew that I would soon lose her. And then I would never know.

So I ran.


	19. A Thousand Words, part 3

_Tyson_

"Okay, we'll take…." Haruhi thought about it a moment. "Over here, we'll go by this lift."

She pointed down the end of the corridor we'd just come into after sneaking in through the back door and navigating a couple of other corridors (somehow, in this process, she'd also managed to sneak me a visitors pass in case we bumped into anyone). Sure enough, there was a lift there.

"There's no guarantee that nobody will be on it, but it is one of the least used ones here, so that is something. We could also take the stairs, but trust me, you don't want to do that."

"Mhm." I didn't bother to ask why. We were silent while we strode down to the lift, and she pressed the button to call it down. When it came, it was empty and we stepped in, and Haruhi pressed the button for the top floor.

"So," Haruhi leaned against the wall of the lift as it started to move upwards. "You were pretty close to Yacchi?"

"…as far as I'm aware. In truth, it took me a while to get used to everything here. It was my first time in Japan, and I was struggling with the language and the customs, not just the adjustment to a new school. " I admitted. "In those first two weeks, I don't think I talked to her all that much-she'd made close friends with Iwafusa already, but she did help me with language, with some of the little details and nuances you don't really get in your standard phrasebook."

"Ah, of course, language." Haruhi laughed, shaking her head. "I mean, okay, I know a couple of other languages, but Yacchi…..she was _obsessed,_ in a way. I mean, I don't even know how many languages she knew, but it was a bloody lot, and it was more or less all she talked about."

"Yeah?"

"Okay, you know the sheltered, sickly rich-kid cliché?" Haruhi started, looking at me to check I was following. I wasn't in the habit of referring to people's life stories as 'clichés', that was really just for over-used turns of phrase, but I nodded and indicated that Haruhi should continue. She grinned at me and did so.

"Well, that was Yacchi to a T. All of her elementary school life, and the first year of middle school. So you can imagine she was…kinda clueless about life. No big deal though, not for me. I didn't really care about languages like she did, but she didn't mind me wittering on about whatever, and I didn't mind her rambling her on about languages. Do you know, she tried to learn text-speak in the same way that…I don't know, that you might have tried to learn Japanese, or how I taught myself French. That was funny to see, I can tell you. "

"That does sound like her." I agreed. "She was…tenacious, wasn't she?"

" _Iwafusa, Ma'am."_

" _What is it?" Kanekatsu looked up from where she'd been carefully examining the wound on Yashiro's throat, clearing away the blood with some tissues that Wakana had found. I wordlessly pointed to Yashiro's arm, the one which was flung out to her side. More specifically, her hand._

 _Kanekatsu frowned, but then her eyes picked out what I was mentioning, and she nodded at me, getting up and carefully making her away around Yashiro's body, careful to not step in the blood. She then knelt down next to me, and cupped Yashiro's small hand in her own, frowning down at it._

" _Hmm…what do you suppose this is?" Kanekatsu asked me. I blinked, and opened my mouth in astonishment, but pulled myself together and looked at the object that was gripped so tightly in her hand. As far as I could discern, it was a light-brown colour, small and tufty and a lot like…._

" _My best guess would be hair, Ma'am." I ventured._

 _To my surprise, Kanekatsu nodded firmly at that._

" _I suspect the same." She put Yashiro's hand back down on the floor, and searched her lab-coat pockets. When she came up empty, she let out a frustrated sigh, and then proceeded to carefully pull out the item with her own fingers. When some strands remained behind, it seemed clear that they were hair. She handed the tufts she'd given to me, and then carefully picked up the rest, and deposited them in my hands, and I looked down at the pile._

 _There weren't that many, and they were short strands. They were also slightly covered in blood, most likely Yashiro's, meaning their exact shade was not clear. But I knew that somehow, these little bits of hair would be important in determining who Yashiro's killer had been._

 _And I wondered if somehow, Yashiro had realised this too._

"Yup! It just made her even cuter than she already was. And I'm sure you'd agree, right?" Haruhi beamed. I just stared at her, not quite able to compute her conclusion with the memory I'd just been thinking of. She gave me an odd look back.

"What?"

I struggled for a moment, but eventually came up with:

"You seem happy to talk about her."

"Why wouldn't I be?" this was accompanied by another odd look. "You knew her too. And you were trapped in the same situation as her. And besides, I like to talk about her. Not really the stuff about how she died-I've got a good idea, but please, I'd rather not. But about her, what she was like, how we were friends, all that. As long as you're not a journalist or someone looking to sell the story to a journalist, I don't give a damn. I want to talk about her, to keep on and on and on talking about her. Obviously though, Tsukishima-san feels differently, as I'm sure you can tell."

"The receptionists mentioned something about journalists." I remarked.

"Yeah, since I've been here, there has been a little bit of trouble on that front, and a couple of times they were really persistent, it was big trouble. So their concerns are fair enough. But I swear, they're dense at the best of times." Haruhi ran a hand through her chin-length black hair and sighed.

"So…are you sure this will be okay?" I asked for what felt like the zillionth time.

"Sure it will be. " Haruhi nodded. "I mean, he's not going to fall over your feet all grateful for the painting, and he's certainly not going to talk to you about her either. Which is perfectly fine, I know not everyone is as much of a blabber mouth as I am, but….let say that being his unofficial secretary has led me to think that it'll probably be a good thing, you coming in like this. Of course, I'm more than liable to be getting a chewing out once you're gone, but yeah. "

"You've come to care for him, haven't you?" I said, the fact starting to dawn on me. _It's obvious once I actually think about it._ Haruhi bit her lip and nodded, eyes seeming to shine for a very slight moment.

"Yeah, I guess so. I didn't expect it, at first. I mean, before he was just Yacchi's dad, and I have no real interest in trading, this isn't the career path I want. That's graphic design, if you're wondering. But freelance work doesn't pay all the bills, and until I can get a real foothold in the field I'm aiming for, I'm here. And now…well, he's _Yacchi's dad_. It's gone from being an incidental detail to something so very, very important. So yeah, who knows when I'll be leaving? That didn't make sense aloud, but whatever. "

I said nothing to this, just looked at her in sympathy. I could sort of understand what she was getting at, something about how meanings of things can change under such circumstances, but I couldn't make the words line up right in my head, certainly not in Japanese. And though I suspected she knew English well enough, I didn't want to say it like that. The words weren't lining up quite right in English either, in any case.

"If you're thinking that there's some clichéd, tawdry, boss-secretary situation here, let me assure you that's not what's happening. In fact, my own inclinations are _quite_ the opposite-my age, and female, that does it for me."

"So I noticed." I retorted drily, recalling how Haruhi had given her number to Hokuto. Haruhi stared at me for a moment, and then laughed, startling the single other person who was now on the lift with us, making them look up from whatever paperwork they were buried in. Nothing about us seemed to bother them once they had looked up, so pretty soon they were absorbed in it again, and got off on the next floor in any case.

"Yeah, I'm sure you did. "

"You're….pretty forward about that, too?" I ventured. It seemed to me a brave position to take, but Haruhi simply laughed again.

"Yeah, sure. I see no reason to really hide it, plus it puts paid to any rumours that I'm in love with Tsukishima-san, or that we've got some sordid affair going on. Not that it's any better in the eyes on some, but eh."

 _Love, huh?_

"So, were you in love with Tsukishima, then?"

I was surprised at how forward I was, and when Haruhi's features shuttered for a moment, I feared I had been too impertinent, and was gearing up to apologise furiously when she answered.

"With Yacchi? 'Love' is probably putting it a bit too far. She was cute, right? _Seriously_ cute. Like an adorable little sheep or something. Most of the girls-myself included- in our old school fawned over her looks, even if they didn't get her. I know that it was the same on the Hope's Peak forum. I considered asking her out but…poor kid was barely figuring out how to make friends, let alone where she stood when it came to love. It would just be awkward for her. So we stayed friends, and that was fine. "

I nodded at that, and smiled slightly.

"I see."

"Still, either way, it doesn't matter, does it? She was a friend, and she's gone, and I miss her. That's all it boils down to, in the end."

 _Is there really anything that this can just be 'boiled down to', though? Nothing was ever simple about this. Saying that you were 'just' friends or 'just' classmates. Isn't it a bit simple, dismissive?_ I was sure that it more the way we conceptualised these things in words, in our societies, rather than these things actually being more or less important than other relationships. _Still….I wonder, what would you have made of such distinctions, Tsukishima?_

"Ah, here we are."

The lift pinged as it stopped, and then there was another ping as the door opened. I hadn't even realised we were reaching the top, I was that absorbed in the conversation with Haruhi. I shook my head to clear it, and then stepped out of the lift behind her.

I was expecting the top floor to be a single large office or room, or something like that. Instead, there was a small lobby that had a few small armchairs and a medium-sized desk in it, and a short corridor. Haruhi walked up to a door across from the lift that was opposite the point where the lobby turned into the corridor, and she knocked once. But rather than wait for a response, she opened the door a crack and peered around it.

"Tsukishima-san?" after this, Haruhi's voice dropped in tone, so I couldn't hear what she was saying. I couldn't make out what the deep voice on the other side was saying either, but after a couple of moments Haruhi straightened and grinned at me, gesturing to the door.

"After you, De Guerre-san."

She opened the door wider, and I stepped in. Haruhi followed, closing the door behind me. The office was quite large, and the desk was directly opposite the door. And the man that I immediately knew to be Hideki Tsukishima sat behind it, regarding me with piercing eyes that were the same colour as Yashiro's. I could read nothing from his expression. Gulping slightly, I steeled myself, and walked up to the desk.

"Hello, sir. My name is Tyson De Guerre, and I-"

"I know who you are." He said briskly. "You are British, am I right? Would you prefer to speak in English, or shall we continue as we are?"

I hesitated for a moment, but then decided it would be best if this conversation was in my native language.

"English, please. If that's fine with you."

"I would not have suggested it otherwise." Tsukishima said in flawless English, with no discernible accent and a tinge of irritation. "Now, what is it that you're here for?"

"I have something for you."

"What sort of 'something'?"

"A gift for you. A painting." I hesitated, and took a breath. "Of your daughter."

There was a slight, slight flicker in his face. If I hadn't been training my eyes on his face, looking for it, I wouldn't have seen it. Tsukishima said nothing though, and just folded his arms on the table, waiting for me to produce the painting. So carefully, I put my bag down, and took out the painting and handed it over to him.

"And who made this painting, Mr De Guerre?" he asked as he methodically started to unwrap it, depositing the bits of brown paper onto a small pile on his desk.

"That would be me, sir."

"I see." There was a moment of silence while he got off the final bits of paper, and then he studied the painting carefully, scanning every section of it. His face did not seem to change at all, yet I was sure I could detect something. On the other hand, that could just be wishful thinking. But after a few moments, he did something unexpected, and turned the painting around to me, resting the bottom of the frame against the edge of the desk, so that Yashiro's face stared out at me.

"Why?" he demanded, voice dangerously quiet.

"…I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand."

"Why did you paint this? And why go through all the trouble to bring it to me?"

"I've painted all my dead classmates, and I have been trying to deliver the paintings to their loved ones. As…a sort of kindness, I suppose. We're having a reunion, you see, myself and the other Survivors, so it was the perfect opportunity. Of course, I would have just arranged for them to be sent if I couldn't give them in person, but I felt it was better to look their loved ones in the eye, so they know that they were important to someone else. "

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at this.

"You could have done the same here. If it wasn't for Kisaragi-kun, then I would have never seen you."

"I suppose I could have. " I said the words carefully, not sure if his comment was praise or damnation. "But in your case, it was personally important to me that I saw you in person."

"And why would that be? Because of my daughter?" His voice seemed to crack ever so slightly at the last two words, and he looked taken aback at himself for a moment, as if trying to believe he had just said that. But he recovered quickly, and the expression was replaced by the steeliness he'd started out with.

"Yes. She was….important to me."

"By which you mean, she helped you with your language skills." Tsukishima dismissed. "Given her talent, why would you think that's special? That you're special?"

Once again, I hesitated. _What is he playing at?_ With all the others, the exchange over the paintings had been conversations. This…it seemed like an interview, an interrogation. _Tread carefully._

"But the native language of a country is the starting point to adapting in it, is it not? If you're adrift in a country you've never even _thought_ of before, never even visited, and all of a sudden you are attending school there, you need the language to help you adapt to the customs and the culture, to give you a head start in at least settling in, if not completely belonging. Language, that's where it all starts, doesn't it? "

 _As I stared down at the secret in my hand, wondering just how I would interpret it, I felt a tap on my hand, and I looked to see Yashiro stare up at me._

" _De Guerre-kun, I could translate that for you, if you like."_

" _Ah, I-"_

" _Yashiro-Chan, you are aware that he might not want somebody to see what his secret is, whatever it might be? And if you translated it for him, that would mean that you'd have to see it." Kanekatsu explained, joining us._

" _Oh, but…..oh. Of course." Yashiro blinked as this dawned on her, and then she lowered her head, fingers tightening around the envelope with her own name. The edges were ragged-which made sense, I'd seen her open it-but she'd tucked the contents back in neatly and now seemed to be holding onto it like her life depended on it, though at the same time it seemed she wanted nothing more than to throw it away and forget about it._

 _I thought of my own secret. From the few bits written in more simplified characters, I had a suspicion as to what it was. And if I was right, it wasn't anything someone with a little research know-how wouldn't eventually find with some digging into historical archives, and so in turn it probably wasn't technically even mine. Logically, I could let her see it._

 _But the shame of the knowledge still ate at me. If it was what I thought it was, I didn't want to reveal the misdeeds of my ancestor for no good reason. And so Kanekatsu was right. I could not give it to Yashiro to translate._

" _Thank you for the offer, anyway, Ma'am. I'll make do with my phrasebooks." My chunky Japanese dictionary had of course been stolen in the same way our mobiles and electronics had been, but I still had the more tourist-y guidebook. It would have to do._

 _Yashiro simply nodded at that, and turned away to walk away with Kanekatsu, stepping in the pieces of Masashi's envelope as she did so._

Tsukishima nodded slowly at this, but didn't say anything for a moment. I thought of explaining myself a little more, but I had the feeling that he understood perfectly well, and would only be irritated if I spoke out of turn. So I waited.

"So, if she was that important to you, why did she die?"

"Huh? I….well, that is….I…." I flailed at this, not sure what to say. That night, when she gave me her phrasebook and went to the library alone, that was the night when Oshiro was waiting in the library, lying in wait for Kanekatsu. Deep in my heart, I knew that if I had pressed further and insisted on accompanying her, then Oshiro would not have somehow mistaken her for Kanekatsu. Of course, that was not _why_ she had died, but all the same, this was something I knew for sure.

"The motive that Enoshima gave us for killing that time around was our secrets. That is to say, that if somebody didn't die, then all of our secrets would be revealed to the world." I ended up starting, deciding to focus on the second half of the question instead. When Tsukishima didn't say anything to this, I continued.

"Oshiro's secret was that he wasn't actually Haruto Oshiro, as we all thought, but actually his brother, Nobuyuki. From my understanding, Haruto was reclusive, and had severe mental health problems, and so he was in no state to attend Hope's Peak. So Nobuyuki decided to go in his place, and pretend to be him. Which was fine, considering that at that point, nobody knew what Haruto Oshiro actually looked like. Of course, if this came out, it would have serious consequences. So a day later, he eventually decided he needed to kill, and that he needed to select the person who was the most likely to figure out his secret by themselves anyway. "

I paused at this point, but Tsukishima still wasn't saying anything. It occurred to me that he would have known all this, that when he went to collect his daughter's body, Future Foundation officials would have explained at least some of the specifics to him. _So what are you doing, rehashing it all again?_ Regardless, I continued. What else could I do?

"The person Oshiro decided on was Kanekatsu Iwafusa. She was an SHSL Forensic Scientist. I suppose he figured that because of her talent, she'd be the most likely to suspect he wasn't who he said he was, and that she could easily collect evidence and build a case. Regardless, he decided to lie in wait for her in the library one evening-since we'd had the library open to us, Kanekatsu had been visiting it a lot. He didn't count on the fact that others visited the library too-most notably, Yashiro. She went with Kanekatsu most of the time, but still made trips on her own. That night, she went alone. And for whatever reason, Oshiro managed to mistake her for Kanekatsu and…..killed her."

I took a deep breath at this, and stopped. Tsukishima nodded ever so slightly.

"Iwafusa-san died herself, later on." He commented.

"Yes, she did." I said simply. In Erica's words, she was the perfect sacrificial lamb. Any one of us who had been left at that point could have sufficed-Wakana as a source of comfort, Chieko as the one we all worried about, Akira and Daisuke for their leadership roles in the group dynamics. But Kanekatsu, not only did she have a talent we'd relied upon in the killing game, she'd been the focus of two of the killings, the reason for them. It was like a spotlight shining on her, showcasing her importance. Inviting someone to kill her, almost. Though, considering Erica had done so, there wasn't really any _almost_ about it.

I wondered if Tsukishima knew any of that. I suspected he wouldn't want to know, though.

"She was friends with Yashiro. Good friends." This was stated as blandly as his previous comment.

"That's right. She…she took it hard, the fact that not only was her friend dead, but that it was because of her. She didn't let it drag her down, but I wouldn't be surprised if she felt responsible for it. As if she'd failed, in some way. I did, too."

Once again, there was no response, just a silence inviting me to fill it up. I stared at my painting, Yashiro looking at me with no judgement, only curiosity. _You_ should _blame me._

"I could have pushed harder, decided to accompany Yashiro to the library that night. It was important to keep safe, to try and be around people to reduce our chances of dying, and we all knew that." I obliged. "But we couldn't be in each other's pockets, and I did not feel like I belonged enough to insist. But I should have, and I didn't. I failed her. I'm so sor-"

"I don't need your apologies." Tsukishima snapped brusquely.

"Oh, I….." I stopped, realising that apologising for apologising probably wasn't the best tack to take. Tsukishima sighed heavily.

"So you failed her. Or think you failed her, depending on how you like to frame these things." He said dully. "Do you think that makes you special? That you're the only one?"

I blinked at him warily, not sure what to say. Behind me, I could hear Haruhi sigh wistfully, though it also sounded like she was trying to muffle it. I studied him carefully to try and discern how I should respond. It seemed to me that he had lowered his head very slightly, that his mouth had downturned imperceptibly, that his fingers had tightened ever so slightly on the frame of the painting and that more generally, he had folded in, just a little. Only because I was looking for it, to be fair, but all the same, the changes was there. For the first time since this exchange had started, he had given me something, instead of taking all my answers and flailing justifications.

 _Is he saying that he thinks that-_

"What was your secret then, Mr De Guerre?"

And then just like that, it was all gone. He was back to sitting straight, expressionless and steely. My mind scrambled for a response, taking a moment to adjust to the abrupt-if-related subject change.

"With all due respect I don't feel like divulging the specifics, but it simply relates to actions my relative took in the First World War, against civilians. " I stated. Tsukishima raised an eyebrow.

"And this was supposed to stir you to kill?"

"Yes. It does seem silly now, doesn't it? Though it's still horrifying to know, I've long since made my peace with it. But…at the time, it was a source of shame for me. I hated it, but I wouldn't kill to keep it a secret. In any case, any researcher worth his or her salt could dig it up. "

"And do you have any idea what my daughter's secret could have been?"

 _Huh?_ I thought of Yashiro with her envelope, how she'd looked while clinging to it. _Does he genuinely not know? Or is he fishing again, to see what I know?_ As with everything else so far during this sort-of-interview, I had no idea.

"Not at all. About all I could tell you is that it was something that made her scared, and possibly something that nobody knew. Not even you, or her friends."

I searched my mind for something, anything to offer him. _Oh, wait._

"Some of us disposed of our secrets-ripped them up, threw them in the bins, whatever. I don't know what Yashiro did, but if she kept ahold of hers, and it didn't get lost in the explosions, it may have been returned to you with whatever personal effects you received. "

Tsukishima opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it. He considered this for a moment, and then nodded slowly.

"That is a logical conclusion." He conceded. He stared at me for a moment, and then turned the picture of Yashiro back around so he could look at it again. Which he did, for a long moment which seemed to stretch out for an age. I was starting grow weary of standing, but he hadn't invited me to sit and I wasn't sure if it would be alright to ask. It certainly wouldn't be the done thing to just sit down myself, either. So I waited.

Eventually, Tsukishima put the picture down, leaning it against the wall behind him, so that she wasn't staring at me. Then, he leant forward slightly, crossing his arms and resting them against his desk.

"So, were you in love with my daughter, then?"

I almost actually jumped, so surprised to hear the same question that I had asked Haruhi, almost word-for-word fired back at me. Haruhi couldn't hold back a giggle, but Tsukishima shot a hard look over my shoulder and she quietened fairly quickly again.

"I…well…..no." I said honestly, still thinking out my answer. "But perhaps I _could_ have been."

"And what is that meant to mean?" The question came out sharper, almost messier, though I wasn't sure that speech could even be described as messy.

"Just….that I could have been. Not just in terms of what memories I've lost, but the future. "

I took yet another moment to form my thoughts into words that I could speak and that he could understand.

"Perhaps, if she had survived, we'd have become proper friends and maybe I'd have eventually fallen for her, and maybe she might have one day developed the same feelings for me, and perhaps we'd be in a relationship now, maybe even married. But maybe she wouldn't have had, and after the disappointment I would have resolved to be friends with her. Or maybe she would have been the one to develop the feelings while I remained the same. It's just as likely we would have just remained good friends with no other complications. Or perhaps we'd have a working relationship. Anything could have happened, and that includes love. But she isn't here, so none of it happened. So my answer is no, but maybe."

Tsukishima just stared at me, his mouth slightly opened in surprise that he did not bother to conceal. He met my eyes, and suddenly he looked less steely. Once again, it felt like he was telling me something, but this time without words. Yet somehow, this was more expressive than his messy words and suddenly, somehow, I was able to understand him.

And because of that, I could tell that my answer was exactly what he would have wanted to hear, even though he had not realised it yet.

 **…**

"Well….that went well. I think." I said when we were back in the lift and it started making its way down. I sighed, and leaned against the lift walls, while Haruhi stood next to me.

"Yeah, it did. Better than I expected, actually. I'm probably going to get chewed out when I go back up there." Haruhi grimaced ruefully at the lift doors.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, silly." Haruhi giggled. "That's a good sign, I think. "

I just stared at Haruhi, and she sighed and shook her head at me in fond annoyance.

"No, really. But whether this changes anything….we'll have to see, won't we? But whatever happens, thank you. Thank you _so_ much. "

"I…you're welcome."

"Hmmm."

Haruhi nodded, and there was a moment of silence before she changed tack.

"You're a pretty good artist, aren't you? I didn't expect that. How come you're not making a career of it?"

"I'm not really that interested in having a completely art-based career. Though there is a fair bit of art incorporated into my own job. And I have paintings up as part of the displays and what-have-you. I just like to paint."

"Oh. I see."

We didn't say anything else for the rest of the lift ride, and when we reached the ground floor, we remained in silence as we walked to the entrance Haruhi had smuggled me through. After I'd unclipped my visitors' pass and given it to her, she pushed open the door, and then we paused.

"So…." Haruhi said. "I might see you around, maybe, depending."

"Yes, indeed." I searched for something to say, then remembered something.

"Have you ever done anything for websites? With your graphic design, I mean?"

"Yes, sure. Why?"

I pulled out my phone, unlocked it and handed it to her. She stared at me uncomprehendingly.

"I can send you the information about my shop and website. It saves you from getting it from Tsukishima, or me sending it through Nanto, for that matter. I can't guarantee anything right at this moment, but I might end up commissioning you for a thing or two. "I explained.

"Oh." Haruhi blinked at the phone for a moment, then took it and nodded, taking a moment to enter her contact details before handing it back to me. I looked at them for a moment, then saved the contact and put my phone back in my pocket.

"Thank you. For both things." Haruhi effused.

"No, thank _you_. I needed to do this, too. "I replied, inclining my head respectfully." But I don't want to be keeping you, so…"

"Yeah, I'd better get back up there. So yeah, I guess I may or may not see you around."

"Understood."

Haruhi grinned at me again, and then she turned away, and walked back into the building, quickly disappearing around the corner. I stepped outside, closing the door behind me and walked back around the building. Now that it was empty, I folded up the bag that I had been using to carry the painting around, and looked up at the sky, just thinking. I wondered what would happen with Tsukishima next, whether he and Haruhi would be alright. I liked to think that they would be.

 _Ah, Abe will be waiting for me, won't she?_ I sighed and took my phone back out to text her, and started to walk in the direction of the bookshop.

* * *

 **For a sense of the timeline here, the point where Tsukishima asks Tyson about Yashiro's secret this chapter occurs at the same time when Hokuto ran off at the end of the last chapter. In any case, the next chapter will focus on the Hokuto side of thing and then have Tyson and Wakana meet back up with the others again, depending on how long it ends up being. It is probably a bit weird, how I've arranged the scenes, but I feel like hopping backwards and forwards between the two different sets of events between the same chapter would be...well, too jumpy. Hopefully how I've chosen to handle things isn't too confusing though.**

 **Oh, and if anyone was wondering about why Tyson's dictionary would have been taken along with phones during the killing game (as mentioned in his flashback), it's essentially because it would have been a too-obvious clue as to the memory wipe, because it had a lot of extra notes written in it from over the course of the year he'd actually spent in Hope's Peak pre-game. Some he had written, but others Yashiro had done for him. But given in the killing game they'd only known each other two weeks and thus weren't close enough that she'd be helping him in such a personal way, having the dictionary around would be...well, problematic. As for where the dictionary is now...it got mistaken for one of Yashiro's when the building was searched later on, after the game, and so it's actually in her personal effects. Incidentally, the phrasebook Yashiro gave Tyson in one of the flashbacks in a previous chapter has also been returned to Tsukishima. Whether Tyson will get either of these back at some point is something I will save for the end of the story.**

 **So anyway, as always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave feedback :)**


	20. A Thousand Words, part 4

**And this is essentially the end of the 'A Thousand Words' multi-parter. If anyone's wondering why I called it that, it's based off that saying of how a picture can say a thousand words.**

 **For some reason this chapter was somewhat hard to write. I'm not even fully sure as to why. But I managed it somehow, and now here it is. It still seems a bit...lacking, somehow, but I think this is the best it will be, so meh. Next chapter will be better, I promise, but all the same I hope you enjoy this one.**

* * *

 _Masashi_

For a moment, we all just stared, first at the spot Hokuto had just disappeared from, and then at each other, disbelieving. I don't think any of us had a clue what had just happened. She just seemed to have up and left out of nowhere.

"Where did Hokuto-san go?" Shizuka eventually piped up.

"I'm not too sure." Chieko answered, honestly.

"Shouldn't we run after her?" Noriko wondered.

"But we don't know where she's going, how will we be able to follow her?" Akira pointed out. "Though, there isn't really a better solution."

"I'll go. She can't have gone far." I got up. _Holy shit, Nanto-tan. What's up with you?_ At least if I went now, there was a better chance of catching up with her.

"Do you want one of us to come with you, or..?" Chieko asked. I shook my head quickly.

"Nah, it's fine. You guys stay here, I'll drag her back soon enough."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup, I am." I grinned, and then before we could waste any more time, I strode in the direction that Hokuto had run off it and pushed through the crowds, looking for a glimpse of her, or at least of her height and general appearance, since that would at least be a start.

"Excuse me, just coming through, sorry, sorry, just coming through, ah-"In the last few seconds, the number of people seemed to have multiplied, and I had to bite back from cursing as I seemed to keep getting elbows and bags shoved into my sides and my legs, but after a few moments, the crowd lightened up, and I spotted Hokuto further down, still running.

"Nanto-tan! Hey, Nanto-tan!" I called out, speeding up. She didn't appear to hear me, still running, and also looking around her, occasionally pausing, as if searching for something. _Hell._ I broke out into a run and pursued her.

"Nanto-tan, what are you doing? Who are you looking for?" _Who? Why are you assuming it's a who? No, hold on, why would it be a what? Of course she's looking for someone, you dolt, but who?_ Of course, the first thing I needed to do in order to find that out was to actually catch her, which seemed to be increasingly difficult. Was she actually going to pursue whoever it was right out of the mall? I wasn't sure I exactly relished chasing her that far-

"HOLY SHITTING FUCK-FINGERS, NANTO-TAN!" I ended up calling out, just as I almost ended up colliding with her, not realising that she'd come to a stop right outside the clothes shop Noriko had bought her t-shirt from. Hokuto shrieked and jumped back.

"Kita-kun?! What are….I thought you were in the food court."

"I thought _you_ were!" I retorted, putting my hands on my knees and taking a moment to catch my breath, silently cursing how out-of-shape I was. Hokuto just waited for me, saying nothing, and eventually I felt my heart beat return to normal and my breath even out, and I straightened, wiping my brow.

"What was all that about, then?"

"I…thought I saw someone I'm supposed to know." Hokuto said after a moment. Her choice of words didn't escape me, but that didn't mean I understood them.

"What does that mean?!" I asked, irritated. Hokuto glared at me.

"Exactly that!" she responded hotly. "It's not my fault I don't remember anything, is it?"

The meaning of that didn't escape me either, but this time I did understand what she meant, and my jaw dropped open. _Okay, wasn't expecting that._

"Wait, someone you knew back _then_? Then, how did you even recognise whoever she is?"

"I have a photograph. Not on me, but I've practically memorised it, and then I thought I saw someone who could be her, seven years later. Apparently not, though."

Hokuto's shoulders slumped, and just like that my annoyance dissipated, leaving me with a sense of something I couldn't really name. After all, how _could_ I be annoyed now? Of course we were the same where memory loss was concerned, but there were no loose ends, no real enduring mysteries. _Fucking Matsuda and his memory wiping program, fucking Enoshima and her plans that needed it in the first place. Fuck, fuck, fuck._ I sighed and rubbed my head tiredly.

"Let's just go back to the others, okay?" It was all that I could say.

"Hmmm." That, clearly, was all she could say.

We started to walk, slower than I would have liked, but I couldn't bring myself to get her to hurry up. Especially since she was still looking around her, still clearly hoping.

"So, who is she? Well, who was she, rather?" I asked. Hokuto looked at me, startled. I stared back at her and waited for the answer as we walked."

"Her name is Rei. I don't know her surname, for some stupid reason I don't have that written down anywhere, but hey. And she was my girlfriend. "

"And she didn't try to get in touch with you after we were rescued?"

"We broke up before that happened. At least according to my journal." Hokuto answered flatly.

"Oh. Shit." I wasn't sure what to say to that, and Hokuto chuckled wryly. _Well, that puts your own heartaches into perspective, doesn't it?_

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Unfortunately, I apparently wasn't counting on losing my memory when I wrote in my journal and didn't put in much detail, but it came out of nowhere for me, and I didn't even know why back then…."

"So you just want to know what happened, pretty much."

"Yeah." Hokuto nodded. "I can't really get over something I don't even remember happening now, ca-"

"Huh? You're not going to run away again, are you?" I asked. Stupid, considering Hokuto had ground to a halt. I stopped beside her, and followed her gaze to a woman who had just come out of a clothes shop, swinging a couple of shopping bag absently and listening to music through thin white earphones snaking somewhere into her pocket, where I assumed they were attached to a phone or something. _Well, nah, people's jacket pockets don't generally play music you dipshit._ She was dark-haired, and a similar height to Hokuto, maybe a inch or two shorter.

And judging by how Hokuto gawped at her, she clearly held a resemblance to her Rei.

"Rei? Rei?" Hokuto took a couple of steps forward as the woman looked around, possibly considering which shop to go to next, or something like that. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and jabbed at the screen for a moment, before looking up and in our direction. At that precise moment, a group of tourists cut across us, obscuring our view of her before they filed away into the nearest shop jabbering in whatever language they were jabbering in. But they seemed to me to be in slow motion, like something out of a movie

But they were soon gone, and when they were, Rei was left looking at us, and this time she had clearly noticed us, features coloured in astonishment. She frowned, and blinked at least twice, before she gripped her bags and her phone tightly and moved quickly, until she was standing in front of us. She paid no attention to me, instead gawping at Hokuto for a full second longer.

Then, rather than put her bags down and use her hands like a normal person, she made a quick shaking movement with her head that made her earphones fall out and rest on her shoulders, and then she spoke.

"Hokuto…is that really you?"

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

I don't know why I was expecting it too, but her voice did nothing. It didn't trigger any feelings, it didn't cause a wave of memories to suddenly burst forth and miraculously reverse the process I _knew_ were irreversible. But she was standing here in front of me, and she looked so much like that photograph. Plus, she had asked about me by name. _At the least, that has to mean something….right? Right?_

"Yes, it is. Are….are you Rei?"

"Yes, that's right. I….you look so different. Good, still good. The glasses in particular, they look nice on you. But you look so different." Rei blurted out.

"It has been seven years." I said neutrally. Rei looked good too, to my eyes, but it felt hollow to echo her compliment. I was starting to feel something now, but I wasn't sure if it was an actual feeling, or the feeling of _wanting_ to feel. Certainly, there was the dizzying sensation of knowing answers were _this_ close, at last. There was a silence between us as we considered each other.

"I…well, how are you? What are you doing around here? Do you live nearby?"

"No, not here. I still live where I used to." I answered, making the assumption that Rei would have indeed known I lived.

"Oh, okay. You're quite far then."

"Yes. We're just here for…."I hesitated a moment. "A daytrip, but we're staying in Towa. "

"We?" For the first time, Rei looked at Masashi. "With you?"

"Yes, with me. But not just me, with the others too. Our friends."

Rei frowned at Masashi, tilting her head and trying to get the full measure of him, before she seemed to come to some sort of realisation.

"Oh! You mean all the rest of you who survived Hope's Peak?"

"Yes. You know what happened?" It was a genuine question, considering I had no idea where she had been or what she had been doing or anything, but Rei looked wounded by that.

"Of course I did. What with the videos, and the news. I kept up with the news. I….well, Hokuto, I'm glad you're okay. Especially after….well, you know."

"I don't." I said, simply, quickly, not wanting to let this moment stretch out when she had the advantage in memory. Rei gave me an odd look and Masashi made a frustrated sound.

"Of course she doesn't know. You watched the news, you should know this." He said grumpily. She looked at him askance, but then turned to me again.

"Oh, yes, of course." Rei still sounded uncertain. "But in that case, how do you even know I exist in the first place?"

 _You don't believe me?_

"Personal effects." I didn't want to elaborate, too busy trying to calm the oddly familiar spiky feeling that had suddenly flared up. Rei nodded thoughtfully at this, seemingly oblivious.

"Well….there's a lot I'd like to tell you about…if you want to listen. You do have every right not to, though." Rei's shoulders hunched slightly at this, causing one of the earphone wires to fall and dangle, and the spiky feeling flattened out into something softer, but still painful. _Is this because I felt for you once?_ I shrugged.

"You can imagine that there's a whole lot that I want to know too." I said. "But not now-we really need to get back."

I looked over at Masashi, suddenly glad that he'd decided to come after me and make it obvious that I did have other things to do, that I wasn't hinging my entire life on the lack of memories of Rei. He nodded.

"Yeah, the other guys'll be waiting- Shizuka-tan'll be wondering why we're taking so long."

Rei's eyes silently asked the question of who Shizuka was, but since she didn't verbalise it, I didn't answer. Instead, she nodded slowly, and put her shopping bags down to pull out the earphones from her phone.

"Well, we can exchange phone numbers and stuff, and then maybe we can arrange something for...well, whenever you're free. I'm in the country for a few more weeks anyway."

"You don't live here anymore?" I asked as I dug out my own phone and handed it to her, somehow not expecting that. Rei shook her head as we exchanged phones

"No, I live in America now. I do come back regularly though-this is my home country after all." She said as she busily entered her details into my phone. I did the same, but seemed to finish much quicker than she did, and waited patiently until she handed my phone back to me. I took a look at them.

"So, your surname is Yamagawara." I noticed immediately, looking up.

"Yeah, it is." Rei said softly. _Rei Yamagawara. Yamagawara._ I would not forget it this time. I nodded and looked down, and then noticed the extra email address she had written down.

"'Raye Northstar'?" I asked, looking back up at her. "Is that….you?"

"Yeah. It's a pen-name. "

"Oh. The 'Northstar', is that…..?" I trailed off, not wanting to complete the thought. It seemed so silly-she'd broken up with me, why would she pick a pen-name that related to me? Weren't breakups about starting over? Then again, if she'd wanted that, wouldn't she have just ignored me when she saw me? Of course, I could hardly ask all that, either, but apparently Rei knew what I was talking about, because she nodded, and for the first time since this exchange started, she smiled.

"Yeah. I…are you upset about that?"

"Why would I be? I just don't understand it. But you can explain it to me though. But anyway, we really do need to go now." I reasserted, tucking my phone away again. Rei nodded as she put the earphones back in her own phone.

"Alright then." She took a breath. "Okay….well, I'll see you soon, hopefully."

"Yeah."

And with that, we walked away, leaving her standing there. I felt a little bad about it, but not completely. _Rei Yamagawara, Raye Northstar. My Rei._ Finally, finally, I was starting to get somewhere. I found myself looking behind after a few moments, but she had disappeared again.

"So….is that what you wanted, or what?" Masashi asked me, making me whip around again. I blinked, and eventually shrugged.

"Ah, I don't know." I shrugged.

"So, are you going to meet her, or what?" Masashi asked. "And what are you going to do after that?"

"Well, I guess I'll have to decide after I meet her, obviously. Which answers your first question, actually."

"That it does-oh, hold on." Masashi pulled his phone out and stared. "Oh, Akira-tan texted, probably to ask if I found you yet….yep, okay, I'll just answer….found her, on our way back to you now. Okay, there, done."

"Ah, were you guys really worried about me?" I asked. Masashi sighed as he tucked his phone away, and rubbed the back of his head for a moment.

"Vaguely alarmed for a moment, more like."

"Oh. It was pretty silly for me to do that, wasn't it?"

"Too bloody right." Masashi shook his head in mock-annoyance. "Still, the main thing is that you're fine and well….the others are going to be wondering."

"I know." I said, wondering just how I would explain it to them. _Obviously, in the same way that I did just now!_ Even though I knew that, I still wondered. Perhaps because for so long I'd not said anything. Still, at least there was a use for my box now. That, at least, was something.

"It'll be fine though, Nanto-tan. Whatever happens, we're behind you."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." I said. "Yeah."

We didn't say anything for a while, then I felt my own phone vibrate, and I pulled it out, only to see it was a message on our group chat, from Wakana, telling us that Tyson had come back from seeing Yashiro's father and asking where we were. She'd also added that they were sitting in the same bookshop that she'd been staying while waiting for Tyson.

"I've got it, Nanto-tan," Masashi said as I looked up at him. "No, wait, Akira-tan's typing, we'll leave it to him. We're almost there anyway."

"Sure, okay." I put my phone away, and we walked in silence until we reached the food court again.

Akira and Noriko were still at our table, the former standing and typing on his phone, sending a fair number of messages judging by the vibrating I felt. But Noriko, still sitting down, noticed and grinned and waved, and Chieko also smiled, looking up from the ice-cream that she had almost finished. Shizuka looked over to see what Chieko was looking at, and broke out into a huge grin and waved with both her hands. Masashi went straight over to Chieko and Shizuka, but for a moment, I found myself staring at them all, before pulling myself together and walking back over to them.

"Oh, hey, you're okay?" Noriko checked instantly.

"Yeah, I am. I'll explain all when we get back home, I promise."

"And we should be getting back quickly. They're waiting for us, after all." Akira said, indicating his phone.

"Yeah, let's get going." Chieko agreed, gathering her rubbish together, then going to get everyone else's, before throwing it away in the same bin I'd gone to before I'd spotted Rei. She came straight back, and then we started walking.

"Oh, hey, Kita-kun." I said, something occurring to me.

"Yeah, what is it?" he asked.

"Were _you_ the one who was yelling 'shitting fuck-fingers' back there?"

 **…**

 _Chieko_

Having persuaded Shizuka to stay upstairs and play (after extracting many promises that one of us would play with her later on), we gathered in the living room and waited for Hokuto to bring down whatever it was she needed to explain herself. It didn't take her very long, and she came down and sat on the empty armchair, a purple box on her lap. She didn't meet our eyes as she looked down at its lid for a moment, but she opened the lid and set it on the ground, and pulled out a slim stack of small black, hard-cover notebooks. Setting the box next to the lid, she then picked up the piles of notebooks, pulled out one in particular, flipped it open and took out a sheet. All of this she did in silence while we waited, and then when she turned it so we could see what it was, she started to speak.

"This is Rei. Rei Yamagawara, as I found out her name was today. But this is the only picture I have of her. "

"Where'd you get it from?" Noriko asked. Hokuto shrugged.

"I don't know. Must have taken it at some point, right? It was just returned to me along with everything else in this box."

Of course, Hokuto didn't need to explain who had returned the box, and where it was returned from. The answer was clearly written on her face. And in any case, we hadn't been in any other situation that would require such a thing. I thought of my own box, filled with all sorts of little things. A pencil case full of stationary, photographs whose situations I had no memory of, trinkets, exercise books, an appointment diary, a birthday card, some coins. I had stared at some of the things, finding it so difficult to believe that any of the happy things they chronicled had ever happened, but there were no real mysteries, no questions. Nothing to wonder about and struggle to understand.

No, the things to question had happened in the killing game. _Koutarou…_

"And you told us she was your girlfriend….?" Akira prompted carefully.

"Yeah. Was is probably the key word. I've written in here that she dumped me, but I don't really know why. Here, I'll show you."

"Oh, you don't need…." I protested from where I was sitting on the floor, not sure how I felt about Hokuto giving us access to what must have been very, very private thoughts. Hokuto shook her head at that.

"Ah, it's fine, really. It's not personal. Well," Hokuto rethought this. "It isn't personal in the same sort of way anymore. So yeah, you may as well take a look."

Still, I didn't want to take it, so in the end Wakana did, and she looked down at the pages for a moment, looking increasingly sorrowful as she did.

"Ho-Chi…." She murmured. Then, she closed it and handed it back.

"What's all the numbers and directions?" she asked.

"Oh. Observations. This wasn't actually a diary, it was an observational journal, that's all information about whatever stars, planets, whatever I observed each night back then. Some stuff about the Astronomy Club I apparently created. I just sometimes liked to use them as diaries. So it wasn't their main purpose, to be a diary. Hence how random my writing was. But in all of these ones, the ones I got through while there, I wrote a lot about Rei."

"You must have loved her, then." I ventured. Hokuto nodded.

"I know I must have….but I just have no memory of it. Of meeting her, of breaking up with her, of anything in between. I have no memory of it."

"Just the evidence that it happened at all." Tyson concluded. Hokuto nodded.

"Exactly. "

"Did we ever meet her? I mean, that's not really going to be helpful to you right now, but still. Perhaps if you did then we've got stuff written down somewhere too that cou-" Noriko stopped midsentence as Hokuto shook her head quite vigorously.

"No. No, that much was clear. We kept it a secret. She was a Hope Valley High student, you see."

It took me a moment to realise what she was saying.

"And why would have that mattered?" Masashi asked huffily. _Oh. Oh, of course…._

"Of course it mattered." Noriko said. "You know what relations between Hope's Peak and Hope Valley were like!"

"Of course I bloody do, but-"

"You're thinking of it in the wrong way, Masa-san." Akira interrupted. "You're thinking as well….you in the present, away from when everything happened. Back then…..especially if you consider how so many of the Hope Valley students were manipulated by Enoshima to do her footwork, things were very different. They probably had good enough reason to keep things discreet."

I shivered a little at Enoshima's name, but managed to keep myself together. I wondered if perhaps, the disconnect and Enoshima's ability to play on it had had anything to do with the breakdown of their relationship.

"Well, can't argue with that, I guess. Do you think that had anything to do with why she dumped you?" Masashi asked, almost as if his thoughts had been running on similar lines to mine.

"Probably. " Hokuto. "I mean, I have no idea. I didn't think that I ever would, and to be honest since she dumped me I supposed that was that. But given that I literally have no memory of all this, I didn't want to let it be without ever finding out what had happened. Yet, I didn't really have anything to go on, so I didn't…."

She paused and took a moment to collect her thoughts. We waited, and then she took a breath, and continued.

"I had this vague idea that I could track her down somehow while I was here, hence why I have all this stuff with me." Hokuto laughed nervously as she gestured to her box. "But yeah, again, I didn't really know. When we went past the place where the Wishing Tree used to be, I looked to see if I could spot someone who was possibly her, but I didn't. You can imagine that was a relief in some way, but still that left me back to square one. I had no idea what to do next. But you know, we were doing the paintings, so I sort of just pushed it away."

"And then you spot her today, through sheer chance." Noriko concluded. Hokuto smiled at that, though she looked a little wistful.

"Yeah. I got lucky, I did. Though…I don't know what I was thinking when I gave chase. I'm lucky it was her, I guess."

"Did she tell you anything, when you found her?" Tyson asked.

"A little, but under the circumstances, we couldn't really hash it all out there, you know. So we'll meet at some point later. Maybe after we all go home. Or something. She said she's in the country a while longer-she lives overseas now. America. She's an author. Raye Northstar, she goes by."

"Oh! I saw some of her books in the bookshop I was waiting in, actually." Wakana said. "The 'north star', that's from your name, right?"

"Yeah, it is. I don't know why, either."

 _Guilt,_ I wanted to say, but didn't. I probably shouldn't be making assumptions, given how little I actually knew. I didn't know Rei, I didn't know what their relationship had been before it broke down and then everything else happened. But for Rei's penname to incorporate Hokuto's name-that was a very specific, very meaningful gesture. And it was one of guilt, I was sure of it.

"Huh. That's quite the coincidence, isn't it?" Wakana mused.

"You don't need to wait until after we leave to see her, you may as well go sooner rather than later, right, Akira-tan?" Masashi said suddenly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah." Akira blinked, apparently having been lost in thought for a moment. "It's not really a big deal, we've not yet got anything planned to do all together."

"Apart from the festival." Noriko pointed out, referring to the leaflet she'd brought back when she had gone shopping a couple of days ago, that was now stuck to Akira's fridge. Akira nodded.

"Yes, and that's at the end of next week. So….as long as you let us know."

"I….you're sure?" Hokuto blinked. Akira nodded.

"Sure."

"Yeah, we'll survive without you for a night." Masashi joked.

"You guys….." Hokuto picked up the old photograph of Rei and looked at it for a good long moment. Then, she sighed, and tucked it back into one of the diaries, before piling them together and putting them back in the box, closing it and then settling it on her lap again.

"Well….well, yeah, I guess I'd best put this away now. And I'll do dinner today-I'll get started now." Hokuto said as she got up.

"Oh, I'll help too if you'd like, Nanto, Ma'am." Tyson said, as we all followed suit and also got up. Stretching once I was up off the floor, I held out my hand to help Wakana up.

"Sure, I'll see you in the kitchen." Hokuto told Tyson, perky again as she dashed out of the kitchen and clattered up the stairs.

Noriko stayed in the living room, grabbing the remote to turn on the TV, and the rest of us left the room, Tyson, Masashi and Akira going to the kitchen and Wakana and I heading upstairs, Hokuto coming out of her room just as we reached the top of the stairs. Hearing us, Shizuka opened the door and came to drag us in, and we went to join her in her game.

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

"Hey, the others are finished with the bathroom, do you want to go first, or shall I?" Noriko asked.

I looked up from my phone, and shook my head at her.

"You go first."

"Cool, okay." Noriko grinned at me, and then left the room. I sighed, and got up off the bed and went to the window. I'd been staring at my phone for the last few minutes without doing anything. Surprisingly, explaining Rei had been quite easy. Possibly because there wasn't that much to explain in the first place, considering, but still. It had been so easy.

And they'd all been so nice about it. A little mad about me running off…which was a pretty stupid thing to do, especially in an area we weren't too familiar with in the first place. But they'd been nice about it, so nice about it. Though it wasn't exactly their niceness that I was surprised about, because I knew that as Masashi had said, they had my back-just as I had any of their backs. Perhaps it was just how easily it had come, their niceness about it all. And really, it was just weird to contemplate that not only had I actually talked about Rei, I had talked to _her_. And now I would be able to find out what had happened.

Well, if I could work up the courage to text her I would be.

I wasn't sure what was making me dither, but all the same, I was. _Ah, pull yourself together._ I brought up Rei's contact details, stared at them, finger hovering the button that would allow me to compose a new message. _Rei. You're real….you're really real._ I sighed, and took the plunge.

 _Hey, Rei-_ I paused, wondering if it was right to be so familiar under the circumstances, then left it and continued. _Hokuto here. It would be good if we could meet up soon. How does Sunday work for you?_

I read it over, wondered if Sunday was reasonable enough given that was the day after tomorrow and therefore short notice, shrugged that off and then deleted the 'Hokuto here' bit as it seemed unnecessary, and then before I could agonise over it even more needlessly, I sent it and sighed in relief. And then a second later, I had another thought.

 _Haruhi-Chan._

Once I'd taken off after Rei, I'd not even thought about her. But now…what did I do? Was it fair of me to want to see her, even though Rei had come back into my life? Would it count as stringing her along? On the other hand, if I just left it, then what would she think of me? Rei was still my past, even if she was here now. Haruhi could be the future, but how did I know she would be? I sighed, and exited the message screen and went back to my contacts list to find Haruhi's name, and opened a new message under her name.

 _Hi, Haruhi-Chan, it's Hokuto Nanto from earlier today. Thanks for helping us out, we're all grateful. Here are my contact details. Perhaps we could meet some time for coffee, once I'm back home?_ Once I had typed that, I added in my contact details, and then after a couple more re-reads, I decided I was satisfied, and I sent it off. I didn't even realise that I had been holding my breath until I let it out.

 _There, it is done._ I sighed heavily, and looked out of the window for a moment, before moving away from it and sitting down on my bed. I played with my phone absently for a few moments, then decided to turn it off. I'd set things into motion, now all that needed doing was to wait.

* * *

 **Had to reupload this because I did indeed mean 'inch', NOT 'foot. Thanks for pointing that out for me, arans :)**


	21. Always, Not Always

**I'm not even sure how I managed to finish this by today, since halfway through the week I got distracted by an idea for a fanfic for a chorus battle entry and basically spent two days straight on it (and I have it to a point where that'll probably be put up on Sunday, especially since it's just a one-shot). But yeah, here is the chapter, and it is another somewhat fluff-filled one. I'm still deciding on the specific order of events, but there will be some fluff in the next chapter too for sure.**

 **Also, I really hate coming up with chapter titles. I have ranted about this before and I know I will again, but I hate it. It can sometimes be really difficult to think up a suitable title for a chapter or even a story. But enough of that for now. On with the chapter!**

* * *

 _Wakana_

I wasn't entirely sure how long I'd been downstairs working on my new piece when Akira came down, but as I blinked and gave myself a moment to shift from thinking in music to thinking in words, I realised it had probably been a while.

"You've found something to do?" Akira asked simply as he sat down at the kitchen table, taking a seat opposite to me. I nodded.

"Yeah. I've had bits and pieces of melody whirling around in my head, so I brought something to write them on." I explained, turning the notebook around to show him. Akira nodded.

"Looks like you managed to do a lot already." He couldn't quite hide his surprise, and I chuckled a little.

"Yeah…I'm starting to think that this isn't one piece in particular, but a few. Perhaps they'll form one particular collection. We shall see. This is still…well, at this stage, this is essentially rambling."

"Well, either way, I look forward to hearing whatever you come up with."

"Thanks, Kazama-Chan." I replied, simply.

After that, for a few moments, we didn't say anything to each other. Akira got up and poured himself a glass of milk before returning to his seat, while I kept writing, stopping every so often and going back to a bar or any other cluster of notes I was starting to realise didn't quite fit in with everything else. The more I was putting the ideas to paper, the more they seemed to solidify and become real in my mind, making it easier to see the things that would work and that wouldn't. Though sometimes, it was hard to tell. Daisuke was always good at this though, at going over my pieces and working out how they'd sound played, even before they reached an orchestra or a performer. I could trust him to help me tweak a piece so that it was the best it could possibly be.

These days, I didn't have that. I had more than enough musical contacts-old friends from the places I'd learnt to play, my orchestra, even my parents and extended family. And I did turn to them for help from time to time, and they were able and willing to help. But it wasn't the same. It would never be the same.

Thinking about that, I had to put my pencil down a moment, and that was when I noticed Akira seemed to be particularly deep in thought about something.

"What's wrong, Kazama-Chan?"

"Huh? Oh, no, nothing in particular…" Akira blinked at me as he trailed off, and then sighed.

"I was thinking about Nanto-san. Or rather, about Rei Yamagawara."

"Yeah?" I couldn't glean what, exactly, about the situation he was wondering about just by looking at him. There was a lot about it though. Not least how sad it all was. If Hokuto hadn't had the habit of using her observation journals as diaries every so often, then perhaps she would have never known, and she would have gone through life with one less weight on her shoulders. On the other hand, that was a horrible thing to consider. If I'd had the memory of a loved one wiped from me, I knew I would have clung on to any evidence that it had ever happened in the first place.

 _And what if you're the forgotten loved one?_ Like Shin'ya. If Kanekatsu had survived, what would their relationship have been like, with the uneven spread of things that connected them? To know that so many of the precious times they had spent together were just gone from the mind of that person, and that you could do nothing about it, nothing at all. That would be horrible. _But what's worse is when they're completely gone._ At least with both parties alive, there was a chance to rebuild things, the sort of chance that Rei was getting with Hokuto.

"I was thinking about how she was from Hope Valley High."

Akira's answer took me by complete surprise, and I just blinked at him.

"Do you mean…if she had any involvement with Enoshima?" I asked hesitantly. Akira nodded slowly.

"More or less. Not one of the ones who were responsible for any of the murders or the bombings, or even any of the assaults that weren't fatal but were still severe. If she had, then she wouldn't be walking free now. But perhaps she was involved in a more low level way, the riots or even just pledging herself to be a member of the Remnants and just carrying the badge and running errands."Akira explained.

"Ah." I wasn't sure what to say.

"It's entirely possible that she was. Not a certainty, but possible. After all, there were a large number of them who were involved in one way or another, right from the Wishing Tree incident."

I nodded. I remembered the name of the boy from the news. Ikuo Murata, 18 at the time. He wasn't the only one responsible, of course-about five other culprits had been apprehended and arrested. But he stood out, because of the school he attended. _But…_

"There were Hope Valley victims, too." I murmured. Kiku Inoue, that was the first name any one would think of. In a way, she'd become a poster child for the consequences of the horrors the Remnants had wreaked in Towa (and a little beyond). Well, before the Killing Game had happened, in any case. Then the poster children had been _us_. But Kiku Inoue hadn't been the only victim who'd been a Hope Valley student. There had been others, spread over the year of attacks. But I didn't remember any of their names.

"Yes. Yes, I know." Akira sighed. He put his glass down and rubbed his head. "I know. And I guess it goes without saying that most of them were just ordinary teenagers, trying to live their lives the best they could, until it all happened."

"Exactly. But either way, Ho-Chi will be able to handle herself. I'm sure she'll be fine. She might have even have thought about this herself. "

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. But I can't really help wondering it, even now."

Akira nodded at that, and sighed, picking his glass up and taking another couple of sips. He didn't say anything for a moment, but I suspected he was thinking a little of the Future Foundation, of what he'd learnt and understood about what had happened to us while he'd been working there. It wasn't really any surprise that his concerns would be of this variety.

"I do want it to go well for her though." Akira concluded eventually. I nodded at that. It went without saying.

We returned to silence-Akira concentrating on his drink, me going back to the music. I'd written music in Hope's Peak, released a few pieces over that time span, and I had apparently been in the process of composing another when everything else had happened. The sheet music of what had presumably been my first draft of that last piece had been sent to me a few months after I'd gone home, along with whatever personal effects of mine had been salvaged from the destroyed building. It was ripped, and had footprints on it, as though it had been trampled on, though someone had taken the effort to straighten out the paper and flatten out some of the creases and try to fix the sheets in whatever way they could. But what was the most significant was the writing all over it. Daisuke's feedback. I've never been able to bring myself to _really_ look at it, to try and work on it and turn it into a published piece, but I still have it, tucked away safe in my flat. In a way, it felt like a last gift from Daisuke, so I couldn't let it go.

 _Maybe one day, I'll look at it again._

I heard footsteps, and I looked up to see that Tyson had come downstairs, rubbing his eyes slightly before he stopped and stared at us.

"You okay?" Akira asked, getting up and knocking back the last of his milk. Tyson nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just…another nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked. Tyson shook his head.

"No, it's fine. I'll be fine. It's not anything particularly different to the usual nightmares. "Tyson replied, downplaying it as he tended to.

"Ah, okay." If he wanted to say more, I knew he would, so I gestured at one of the empty seats. "Here, sit down."

"Do you want anything to drink?" Akira asked Tyson, holding up his glass as if to demonstrate. Tyson considered this a moment, and then nodded.

"Just water, please. "

"Sure. Wakana-san, you want anything?"

"No, no, it's fine."

Tyson sat down next to me, and looked curiously at my sheet music as Akira washed out his own glass, then got another and filled both of them with water before bringing them back to the table, and carefully pushing one over to Tyson.

"Thank you." Tyson took his water and started to sip at it, as did Akira, I went back to the music, and we fell back into the comfortable silence.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

 _We stopped outside my room, and for a moment just stared at each other. Everyone else had disappeared into their own rooms, to sleep for however many hours it was until the day began. Not that many, I knew._

" _Well, good-" I paused. Was it good night, or good morning? And it was hardly good, was it? Considering we'd just come back from another murder trial. Another one._

" _I know what ya mean." Koutarou said after a long pause. "It's fine, Moyashi."_

 _I pulled a face at that, but didn't quite have the heart to protest it. I just offered up a watery smile and went to open my door. Just as I was about to step in, I turned and looked at Koutarou, who was still standing there, watching me._

" _What are you thinking of?" I asked, instantly. Koutarou blinked, and looked at me._

" _What if it had been you?" he said after a moment._

 _For a moment, my breath caught in my throat as I thought of it. Alright, I wasn't as interested in the library as Kanekatsu was or Yashiro had been, but still, I'd grabbed a few books from there since it'd been opened to us. And if Oshiro had been rattled enough to make a mistake with someone who was three inches shorter and with hair that was a completely different colour and worn differently, then he could have easily made the same mistake with someone who was a little closer to Kanekatsu's height, and who at least had black hair. Like me._

But you're still here, _I reminded myself. So I released the breath and managed to flash another smile at him._

" _You know what, I don't think we're going to get any sleep now anyway. It'll be breakfast time soon after all. Why don't we just hang out until then?"_

 _Koutarou sized me up for a moment, and then nodded._

" _Makes sense to me."_

For some reason, the memory stopped at that point, and I woke up. Not that it made much of a difference. I knew how it played out, I'd thought of it over and over and over and over. Yet I felt somewhat disgruntled by it, even though I wasn't even sure if I particularly wanted to go back to dreaming. I'd woken up calmly, I wasn't sure if the same would happen if I slipped back into sleep and kept remembering. Still, I turned over in the bed, and that's when I noticed that Wakana wasn't in bed.

 _Huh, is it morning already?_ Opening my eyes again, just a fraction, I noticed it was bright, and the curtains had been pulled already. _Well, okay._ Most likely Wakana had gone down to do breakfast-I'd noticed that she and Akira had more or less already developed a habit of doing the breakfast together. To me, it seemed the type that could become a tradition. _If we do anything else like this, in any case._ But I didn't really hear anyone else moving around, so I decided to stay put for a while, and closed my eyes again. It was fine, after all. _I'll be fine, I'll be fine._ I had to be fine. I didn't want to slip backwards, not least because it would alarm the others, and Shizuka. At least where the others were concerned, they'd have some idea where it was coming from, but Shizuka….I could not do that to her. I would not, no matter how hard it was. _I will not._

"Mummy?"

As if I summoned her just by thinking of her, Shizuka was there. I rolled over, so that I was at least facing her, then quietly pulled myself together before opening my eyes.

"You're awake already?" Though it did just look like she'd _just_ got up, considering her hair was uncombed and she was still in her pyjamas. _That's a relief. At least I've not let time slip away._ There had once been a time where I'd be just lying in bed and thinking, so deep in my mind that a good hour or two could slip away from me.

"Well, it _is_ morning now." Shizuka said, starting at me as if it was obvious. I managed to smile at that.

"Yes, it is. Is the bathroom free? You go first, I'll go after you."

Shizuka frowned at me.

"You're not going to go back to sleep, are you?"

"No, no, of course not." _Ah, make an effort, Chieko._ I sat up, trying my best not to ask her why she was sceptical, if she was worried about anything.

"See, it's fine. " I said, making the effort to smile. Shizuka nodded earnestly at me.

"Good. You'd miss breakfast if you slept."

"And I wouldn't want to do that." I responded, my smile growing wider as I realised it was true. "You go ahead, Shizuka."

"Okay, Mummy."

Satisfied now, Shizuka went, and I gave myself just another brief moment before getting off the bed and finding my pyjama trousers to put on. _It is fine. I am fine._

 **…**

After breakfast, we more or less ended up doing splitting off into little groups to do our own things, though that wasn't really very much at all. Akira was sitting and chatting with Tyson at the table, while Noriko and Masashi were upstairs somewhere, playing games on Akira's laptop-every so often, we could hear one of them protest when the other won, which was hilarious. Shizuka went to play in the garden, and I sat in the living room with Wakana and Hokuto, all of us chatting while Hokuto mindlessly flipped through the channels to see what Saturday morning TV had to offer us, though we weren't so much watching as we were lazily critiquing the different programmes.

"Oh, this looks interesting." Hokuto said, pausing at one of the channels.

"What is it?" Wakana asked.

"No idea, it looks like a drama or something." Hokuto said.

"Are we going to watch it?" I asked.

"Might as well. Everything else has just been adverts so far."

We had technically also spent a few moments watching some sort of nature documentary focusing on monkeys, and a couple of seconds on a game show, but Hokuto was more or less right apart from that, so I shrugged. Hokuto grinned and put the remote down, and we spent a few moments trying to figure out what was going on.

"Huh. Is university like that for you, Chieko-Chan?" Wakana asked.

"Nope," I shook my head. "Not even close. There's no way in hell you'd get away with doing that little, not if you want an actual degree at the end of it."

"Ah, surely there's some fun and games in it all?" Hokuto pouted.

I considered that, thinking of Takizawa and Miyano, and how we'd seemed to get along almost instantly after meeting on the first day. Not close friends, not close in the same way Wakana and Hokuto were now, or even in the way Koutarou had been (before things got complicated, in any case), but still, good friends. Friends I was bonded to by things decidedly more mundane, something I was grateful for.

"Sure there is." I replied.

"Well, that's good then, isn't it. Oooh, what's happening-huh, who's that guy meant to be?"

We stared at the young man who'd appeared on the screen and joined the group of university students, watched the girls' reaction to him.

"She likes him-no, no they're dating-and he's friends with that one, I think. " I guessed after a while.

"Looks like he's friendly with all of them, though." Wakana objected.

"Well, yeah, I suppose…." I frowned.

"He's friendly with them, but not friends with them all." Hokuto burst out after a moment. "Chieko-Chan's right. He's specifically friends with that one, and dating the other one, and he's friendly with the rest because they are the friends of those two girls."

Wakana and I just stared at Hokuto for a moment, and then I shrugged and we laughed a little, before continuing to watch. The party scene continued on for a little while, nothing particular that we could notice happening, but something seemed to happen to make one of the girls-the girlfriend-get mad and decide to storm out of the party. She was noticed by the other girl, the friend, who promptly rushed after her.

"Okay, did you see what happened?" I asked. "To cause that, I mean."

I pointed at the screen where the two girls were now having a heated conversation, apparently about the boy. Hokuto shrugged.

"Dunno. Not very good at building suspense, are they?"

"….this is the middle of a series though, isn't it?" Wakana pointed out.

"Probably. Do we even know what drama this is?"

"No idea. Want to check?"

"Not particularly…"

"Yeah, well that's what you say, isn't it?" the girlfriend character on screen cried out, making us all stare at it again. "But boys and girls can never just be friends, so stay away from him."

"….she cannot be serious." Wakana shook her head at that after a moment, sighing heavily.

"Apparently, she is." I was just as disappointed, watching the argument scene finish and switch to the friend character in what was quite obviously her bedroom, staring moonily at her phone but not apparently doing anything else, until all of a sudden a text came through. The camera focused on the phone, showing us that it came from a contact that the girl had listed as 'Acchan' asking her if they could meet. The girl seemed to brighten up and instantly tapped out a reply, suggesting what I assumed was the name of a park, and when Acchan replied that that was fine, she was practically leaping back out of bed and getting ready to go back out. _How sleep-deprived are these people going to be tomorrow?_ I thought in some irritation.

The scene cut again to a park, and it turned out Acchan was the boy. The girl seemed to light up as she ran towards him, and she started apologising, presumably for the girlfriend's bad mood, and he tried to reassure her that it wasn't her fault, and they started to talk about random things, which I somehow suspected weren't what they'd actually met up for, a suspicion only increased when for some reason the scene was overlaid with flashbacks from what I assumed were either earlier episodes, or just scenes from the characters' shared past.

"They are totally, 100% gearing up for a love confession here." Hokuto declared with a grin. "They've probably been building up to it for episodes."

"Really now, it looked like they tried to cram it all into one episode." I snarked.

"It does rather, doesn't it?" Wakana agreed. "Let's see what happens next though…."

Sure enough, what Hokuto had predicted came true…and then some, but thankfully straight after that it cut out to a commercial break, and we all slumped.

"That's really….ugh, that's really, really disappointing, that is." Wakana said after a moment.

"I think it's a common trope though, the whole men-and-women-will-never-be-friends thing. Adds tension or whatever." Hokuto said. I simply shrugged, not really considering myself equipped to comment on how common or uncommon a particular trope was.

"It really, really doesn't." Wakana disagreed. "It's stupid."

"Well…." Hokuto shrugged, picking up the remote and starting to channel-surf again. "It was stupid, how they did it there in any case. But it does happen, sometimes, doesn't it…"

"Well, sure, but that doesn't mean that's always going to happen, is it?" I pointed out.

" _Exactly_." Wakana said heatedly.

"Hey, whatcha all debating about?" Noriko poked her head around the door and then came to join us, Masashi following behind.

"Trashy Saturday morning drama plot twists and their tropes." Hokuto responded immediately. "Weren't you guys playing computer games?"

"We got bored." Masashi replied as he flung himself into an armchair. "So, what's the offending trope?"

"The idea that men and women can't _possibly_ just be friends, that there has to be some sort of romantic thing going on…or at least that one of them is secretly harbouring feelings…or whatever. " Hokuto grinned and pulled a face.

"It's a pointlessly narrow-minded trope." Wakana said.

"I also think it is. But also, the drama was particularly awful in executing it, far as we could tell." I added.

"Oh? What show was it?" Noriko asked.

"No idea." I said. "We've literally just been channel surfing."

This, for some reason, made Masashi crack up.

"Huh. Well, I can kinda get why you're mad about it, Abe-tan." Masashi said.

"I'm not so much mad as…..huh, I don't know." Wakana shrugged.

"Meh, I kind of get it, it's fine." Noriko grinned ruefully.

" _You don't look particularly surprised, Kita-kun, Do you know something we don't?" Noriko turned to Masashi suddenly, pulling a face at him. I just stared, and looked over at Wakana, who squeezed my hand reassuringly, and smiled. I knew what the smile was telling me, that the hard part of telling was done now, and that it was fine. But I could not quite return the smile, and so I found myself looking back at the others._

" _Of course not!" Masashi spluttered. "It was just a hunch…."_

" _What, are you a detective now or something?" Noriko teased._

" _Are you flip-fucking stupid? Hell no. Just, in hindsight…well, how the fuck do I put this without sounding like a right arsehole?" Masashi sighed, looking over at me. I sighed and shrugged slightly to indicate he should go on anyway. I supposed that they were entitled to their questions, after all. I just couldn't guarantee any answers._

" _Okay, so looking back now and comparing how Ueda-tan and Akamine-tan were to say, how Abe-tan and Ueno-tan were with each other, if they were like, characters in a movie or something and you had to ask me which two would probably end up getting together at some point, I would 100% pick Akamine-tan and Ueda-tan. Easily. No fucking two ways about it. I don't think I noticed anything before, It's just….a something I can kind of see thinking about it now. "_

 _Masashi sat back at that and let out a breath. I opened my mouth to say something, but I shut it again, not sure what I would even say. That it wasn't quite like that, that I wasn't sure what it was even like? Could I even say that? But then, unexpectedly, Tyson cleared his throat._

" _Excuse me for my impertinence, but as much as this is….erm, surprising news for all of us, aren't we forgetting something important?"_

" _Important?" Hokuto and Noriko echoed in confusion. I just stared, and Tyson nodded._

" _Yep." Then, to my surprise, Tyson looked me directly in the eye, and smiled, inclining his head slightly in a respectful way before speaking again._

" _Congratulations, Ma'am."_

I sighed and stretched.

"Yeah, I get it too. Well, sort of." I pulled a face. "Unfortunately I'm probably a walking example of the trope, all things considering, so I'm not sure how valid my verdict is, but oh well."

The others just stared at me for a moment, saying nothing. The only noise in the room was the sounds of the toothpaste advert currently on the TV. Then, Noriko covered her mouth to push back a giggle, and Hokuto openly sniggered. After a moment, Wakana and Masashi also chuckled, that's when I realised what I'd done. I'd made a joke. About Koutarou, about what had happened between us. A _joke_. Not a particularly funny or well-executed joke, but all the same, it was still a joke.

And once I realised that, I couldn't help but laugh as well.

* * *

 **The trope discussion is a result of me reading a crime novel where the male and female leads (both detectives, partnered with each other) were friends, but the friendship was being put under strain under the pressures of their latest case, which linked to the male detective's childhood. There were plenty of more interesting and intriguing plot points in the book to carry it along perfectly , including enough to actually show the development and the deterioration of the friendship and then the author had to throw in some sexual tension between them for no discernible reason.  
A friends-to-lovers trope in itself isn't something I have an issue to it, in fact, there's something about the progression that makes sense in as far as getting to know someone goes. And I am also aware that some male/female friendships will have that undertone to them, and that it can change the dynamics of said friendship a lot. And I am fine with that- I mean Chieko and Koutarou sort of fall into this sort of category, for crying out loud. ****It's just when it comes under the assumption that _all_ male-female relationships (that aren't familial ones) include sexual/romantic undertones (or will inevitably become that sort of relationship) that I get annoyed. And I got annoyed by this crime novel because it sort of made this assumption, even though in all other aspects it was actually a really good novel.  
Then I was reading some articles about the concept of friendzoning and whether it's harmful or not, while at the same time trying to figure out what this next TV-watching conversation should be about. And somehow I ended up putting all these things together (I have no idea how either), and thus the above scene happened.  
** **Plus I feel like it's an important thing, that Chieko is getting to a place where she can make a sort-of joke about some aspect of her circumstances. It's not like the magical turning point where everything is instantly okay because this one little thing happened, it's...well, one of many turning points, that point her in the direction of the day she'll at least be at peace with her own sadness about things.**

 **So...yeah, I'll leave the ranting and rambling there for now and, as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	22. Getting Ready

_Chieko_

When I went to hunt out the ice lollies, I took the opportunity to see what Shizuka was doing out in the garden. She was sitting in the middle of the grass, looking very happy while chatting animatedly to a pudgy black-and-white cat curled up in front of her.

"You don't have a cat, do you?" I asked Akira after a moment, even though this was a somewhat stupid question-if he had a cat, he would have told us PLUS we would have seen it by now. But Akira didn't seem to notice the silliness of that question, he just frowned and got up to look through the glass of the door.

"I don't, a neighbour a couple of doors down does though." He replied after a moment. "Two cats, actually, they're from the same litter, sisters."

"Oh, I see. Do they spend a lot of time outdoors?"

"Yeah. I usually see at least one of them in the garden from time to time. They never do any harm, though one is rather-"

At this point, Shizuka spotted us and decided to rush over, picking up the cat to carry over to us. I opened the door to step out into the garden.

"Mummy, look, I found a kitty! Isn't she cute? Can I take her inside?"

"She is cute, but you'll have to ask Akira-san about that." I told her, before turning to Akira, who looked rather nonplussed, just staring at Shizuka and the cat in her arms, who purred contentedly and looked rather satisfied at not having to walk around.

"…..that's the evil twin." Akira said after a moment, before I could ask what was wrong.

"I…excuse me?"

"I said there were two cats the neighbour had, right? Well, one is friendly enough, doesn't mind being stroked or approached by anyone. The other one is a little more irritable, and has a tendency to hiss at people who aren't the owner. They look pretty much the same, but the grumpy one has white ears and only one white foot, whereas the friendlier cat has a white splodge at the end of its tail and all four feet are white. "

I looked back at the cat again. It had white ears, and only its front left foot was white. _Oh, god. She isn't just a cat detector, she's a cat whisperer._ Somehow I suspected this was going to make things a thousand times more difficult the next time Shizuka found a stray cat somewhere near home and tried to smuggle it in.

"I can't take the cat inside to play?"

"You can play out here, can't you? You've been doing fine so far."

"Well…I guess….it's kind of getting hot now though, Mummy."

"I'll bring out some water for the both of you," Akira spoke up. "But you know, this cat might decide it will want to go home soon since it's warm, so if you play out here, then if it wants to, then it knows how to get back."

"Ohh…" Shizuka frowned at this, then nodded. "Okay then."

 _Huh, that was…easier._

"I won't be long."

We stepped back inside, and Akira searched for a cup and a bowl. I searched for a way of thanking him, but there was nothing that didn't seem a little bit out of place, so I left it at that.

"Well," he said after a moment. "Wonders will never cease."

"What, exactly, happened, if I may ask?" Tyson asked from where he was sitting at the table.

"Shizuka somehow taming a cat that's supposed to be incredibly grumpy is what happened." I said.

"Oh, I see." Tyson blinked, clearly not sure what to say about that. I chuckled and shook my head.

"Yeah, I know. I don't know what to think either. Still, I think it's made her day, finding a cat."

"Well, that's good then, isn't it?"

"That it most certainly is."

Akira went back out to give Shizuka her cup of water and put the bowl down for the cat, before slipping inside.

"Anyway, are you alright, Akamine-san?"

"Sure, sure, the guys just wanted ice lollies so I came to get them." I said, smiling.

"Ah, right. Go ahead. "Akira gestured at the freezer before going back to sit down with Tyson. I went and opened the freezer, and soon found the ice lollies. I had no idea what flavours everyone actually wanted, so I just grabbed five random ones, and shut the freezer again before heading back to the living room.

"I was about to come look for you, you know." Masashi said the moment I returned.

"Was I really that long?" I wondered. "But anyway, Shizuka's befriended a neighbour's grumpy cat, which could be interesting."

"A grumpy cat? Slightly pudgy, black, white ears and one white foot?" Masashi's eyes bulged in surprise. I nodded, and laughed slightly.

"One and the same. You know about it?"

"Ehh, let's just say I've had a couple of encounters both that cat and her much nicer twin when I've come to see Akira-tan." Masashi pulled a face at the very thought. "I can't believe that Shizuka-tan's befriended it?"

"Well, she was letting her carry her around and everything, so I suppose she had."

"That….that's freaking weird, that is."

"Guuyssss, the ice lollies will melt!" Hokuto mock-whined.

We both stared at her, and then I remembered the ice lollies.

"Oh, yes, of course! Here!"

I handed them out at random and then went back to my seat. The TV was on some music channel or other, but at this point, none of us were paying too much attention to it, and so for a little while we just sat there, eating our ice lollies.

"Hey, so what are we doing for lunch?" Noriko asked after a few moments.

"Lunch? We've barely just had breakfast!" Hokuto laughed.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad." Wakana reasoned. "Though that being said, what are we doing?"

"Do we _need_ to do something?" Masashi asked.

"Huh." Noriko considered. "Yeah. Yeah, you have a point."

"I'll ask Akira-tan once I'm finished though. It's already starting to melt on my hands too." Masashi held up his almost-finished ice lolly to make his point.

"Woah, you finished that fast!" Noriko exclaimed.

"I just told you, it's melting over my hands!" Masashi grouched. "Ah, fuck it, I'm going to go wash my hands. Gimme a moment."

Masashi got up and left the room. After a few seconds, he came right back, lolly stick disposed of and hands clean again, and he sat back down.

"Are you the speed queen today or something?!" Noriko exclaimed. Masashi stuck his tongue out at her but didn't respond to the question, instead making an announcement.

"By the way, Akira-tan's cool with us doing our own thing for lunch."

"That works for me." Wakana said.

"Yeah, that's fine." I agreed. "I'm going to wait until Shizuka's hungry."

"Cool, I'll join you then as well, if that's okay?" Masashi asked.

"Of course it is!" I replied, before quickly biting on the ice lolly to stop it dripping all over my jeans. Noriko and Hokuto were having similar troubles with their own ice lollies, but Wakana didn't seem to be having a problem at all, calmly licking at it little by little. She caught me staring, and I pulled a face at her, to which she just shrugged innocently. I mock glared for a moment, but couldn't help but smile almost instantly afterwards.

After a little while more of battling with the lollies, I got up and went to the side where there was a tissue box, and pulled out a huge clump, and then clumsily separated them out into a few smaller piles.

"Here, I think we could use these." I said, handing Noriko and Hokuto their own clump of tissues, and giving one to Wakana before sitting back down to mop myself up.

"Cool, thanks." Noriko said.

"No problem, though of course we're still going to need to wash our hands afterwards."

"Yes, Mum." Noriko quipped, cracking up at her own bad joke. I couldn't help but laugh with her as well. She did sort of have a point.

"So, Chieko-Chan, you said Shizuka-Chan's making friends with an evil cat outside?" Wakana piped up.

"Oh, yeah. Well, it's like this…"

 **…**

After lunch, Akira decided to take the watermelon he'd bought out of the fridge and chop it up for us to eat. Half of it, he put into a plastic container and put back into the fridge, the rest he cut into eight large but still easy-to-hold chunks for all of us. Since at that point it was too warm to really be outside, we all sat around the table together to do this, and the 'evil' cat had left the garden too, so Shizuka had no problem with that.

"Hey, have any of you ever gone melon smashing before?" Noriko asked around a mouthful.

"Melon smashing?" Tyson asked. "What's that?"

"More or less what it sounds like. You go to the beach and basically try to whack a melon being thrown around, while blindfolded."

"….no. "Tyson said after a few seconds of just staring. "Have you?"

"Nah. We were somewhat poor when I was a kid, we couldn't afford to go all the way down to the sea. I dunno, it was something I was just thinking about."

"We did once, one holiday back when we were in middle school." Akira spoke up. "I think my father was the one who won."

"So did I, though I was still in elementary school….and my big brother won. I was pretty annoyed, I remember." Masashi said, pulling a face at the memory.

"I honestly just thought that was something that happened in anime." Wakana said.

"I thought the same as well, actually." I replied. The others continued talking about melon smashing, and beach holidays in general, while I sat there and listened. And as I did, I remembered something.

" _Ah, looks like they've got a lot of food in here…" I exclaimed as we looked around. Fruits, vegetables, dry foods, meats, dairy, ready meals…whether it was the fridge, freezer, or one of the many cupboards, all were completely and utterly full. Though I couldn't be pleased about that at all. We were still trapped._

" _Looks like enough for at least a month or so….." Daisuke thought aloud as he and Wakana inspected the different crates of fruits and vegetables. Leaving the cupboard he was looking through, Koutarou went over to them, and I quickly followed, not wanting to lose sight of him._

" _That's all well and good, but what are we meant to do when it runs out?" Koutarou muttered angrily as he picked up a watermelon, appearing to absently study the weight of it and how it felt in his hands._

" _Upupu, that's nothing to worry about!"_

 _I almost jumped a mile when the Monobear appeared in front of us, and Wakana exclaimed wordlessly. The bear seemed to find that hilarious, and just laughed at us._ I want to go home…I want this to be over…

" _And what do ya mean by that?" Koutarou said, stepping slightly in front of both of us. The bear just laughed again._

" _Like I said, don't worry! All the food and drink here gets restocked every night, so you'll never, ever run out! So if you really don't wanna kill, you can live your life out here as peacefully as you like, Upupu…."_

" _Of course we're not going to kill each other!" Wakana protested._

" _Well, of course, if you were to change your mind about that….there's plenty of weaponry to choose from here in the kitchen." Monobear went on cheerily. "I mean, that sturdy watermelon Ueda-kun's holding there, you could throw that at someone's head, or just use it to practise bashing someone's head in…"_

 _Koutarou glared darkly at Monobear, and swore briefly in Tagalog, before throwing the watermelon back on its pile._

Quickly, I took a few large bites of my watermelon, trying to push that particular memory back. Now I was thinking about it, there was a touch of the sadistic in the whole idea of melon smashing.

"Mummy, we're going to the beach, aren't we? With Aunt Misa?" Shizuka piped up.

"Yes, that's right, the weekend after we get back home."

It was something that we'd had planned a little while before we'd even made reunion plans. Misa had collected quite a few days of leave from the magazine she worked at, and she had decided a little family trip would be one of the things she did with that leave. The last time either of us had been to the beach was when we'd both been very little, years before Mum's accident. Even before Koutarou and Ana had moved in next door to us. I only had dim memories of that beach trip, but those memories were happy ones. I was looking forward to making new beach memories, this time as a parent myself.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun." Noriko grinned.

"Yeah!" Shizuka agreed cheerily. "Mummy, are we going to smash melons?"

"No we are not." I answered instantly. The others just stared at me.

"…that's a strong opinion." Hokuto said.

"Yes, well." I didn't really want to elaborate on said strong opinion, so I kept it at that.

"I don't blame you, to be honest." Tyson mused. "The entire thing just sounds like a really strange thing to be doing at a beach. What's wrong with sunbathing, paddling in the ocean, looking for seashells, building sand castles, playing ball games, all that sort of thing?"

"Well, we do all of that too…." Noriko shrugged.

"That is also true." Hokuto mumbled through a mouthful of melon.

"That's okay," Shizuka decided. "The melon pieces would get all sandy, anyway."

"Yes, they would." Tyson said, nodding at her.

"Oh yeah, by the way, I've got a possible meet-up with Rei?"

At that, we all looked at Hokuto.

"That was quick!" Noriko exclaimed. "Where, and when?"

"Tomorrow evening at 7, Guiseppe's." Hokuto replied instantly, before giving a sideways look at Akira. "That's alright, isn't it?"

"It's fine. Do you want to be dropped off?" he asked.

"No, no, it's near the pillar, we went past it the other day. It's that Italian restaurant we passed, remember. So I know where it is."

"Yes, I know where you're talking about. Well, that's fine. Let me know if you change your mind, won't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

"Mummy," Shizuka spoke up. "I've finished."

"Oh, do you want another one?" I asked, turning my attention to her. Shizuka shook her head at that.

"Well, go and wash your hands, and then…what do you want to do?"

"Hmmm….I think maybe I'll draw." Shizuka announced after a moments consideration, before then going over to wash her hands.

"Alright then."

A few moments later, Shizuka had left the room, and her little footsteps quickly disappeared upstairs. I turned back to see what everyone else is talking about.

"Good for you though, Ho-Chi," Wakana said. "I hope it goes okay."

"Yeah," Hokuto sighed. "I do too."

"You nervous?" Masashi queried.

"Of course I'm nervous! Wouldn't you be?" she retorted.

 _I would._ It took a moment before I realised that I had said that aloud, and I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment.

"Thanks, Chieko-Chan."

"We'll help you get ready. Like we would if you were going on a date." Wakana decided. When we all stared at her instead, she shrugged.

"It's not a date, I know that. But it'll be fun. And maybe it'll ease any nerves you have. What do you think?" Finishing her watermelon slice, Wakana got up and went to wash her hands, while Hokuto considered this.

"Actually….you know what, that's not a bad idea at all."

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

"And what, exactly, is wrong with what I wear?" I mock-glared at Noriko. We were in the bedroom, along with Wakana and Chieko, helping me to get ready to see Rei in about an hour and a bit. The others were downstairs, Shizuka more than happy to be showered in attention by Masashi (and Masashi more than happy to shower her in said attention, I could tell).

"Nothing's wrong, per-se…." she protested. "Just…it's all black."

"So?"

"Well, that's a bit dull, isn't it? What's wrong with a bit of colour?"

"To quote you, nothing, per se. I just prefer to wear black."

And this, of course was reflected by the selection of my clean clothes that were currently strewn out on the bed. The shirts, the different skirts. They were all black. All in different materials, and all of them different shades of black, at least to my eyes, but all still black.

"Noriko-Chan's got a sort of point." Wakana reasoned. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with a little colour."

"And you should dress up a little! It's a special occasion." Noriko exclaimed.

"Well…while I also kind of agree, my sister swears by the little black dress, and I always used to just borrow off of her whenever I needed something fancy." Chieko pulled a face. "Though, it's not like I did that sort of thing often enough for me to really be saying what I 'always' did about it. But to get back to the present….perhaps one of us could lend you something?"

"Which one of you though?" Out of all of us, I was the tallest, and thanks to her growth spurt over the last seven years, Noriko was the next tallest and close to my height with it, but there was still three inches difference between us. _Well, that sort of answers the question, doesn't it?_

"Well, it's probably going to be Noriko-Chan, isn't it?" Chieko frowned at the two of us, then looked at the clothes on the bed.

"Yeah, I don't mind." Noriko said instantly.

"But everything of yours is patterned, and half the time your patterns clash." I groaned.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with my patterns!" Noriko protested. "They're easier to see!"

"Not every item of clothing, just a single one. Maybe the trousers…no, those will be too short. A shirt? "Wakana frowned.

"A skirt! I brought a few along with me, want one of those?"

I thought about this for a moment. That didn't seem like too bad an idea, but…

"Your skirts tend to be a bit longer than what I'm comfortable with." I said apologetically.

"Ah, fair enough." Noriko shrugged at that.

"Oh, I have an idea!"

We turned to Wakana, who had crossed back over to the bed and was lifting up items one at a time.

"Noriko-Chan, do you have any light jackets, or at least button-down shirts with you?"

"….you mean light as in the material, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Yeah, I think so. Hold on a moment." Noriko went to the wardrobe and riffled through before pulling out a couple of items and holding them out.

"These any good?" she asked.

"Yeah. Now….it's warm, so we don't want to overdo it…." Wakana laid out the two jackets and three shirts that Noriko had found, and then sorted out my black shirts, moving some next to the jackets and shirts and the rest on the other side of the bed. I watched for a moment, frowning, and then came back over to the bed, and realised those of my shirts that Wakana had selected were all sleeveless ones.

"Ohhh….I get what you're doing now." I said. Wakana beamed at me.

"Yeah, so just pick one of those shirts and a skirt to go with it, then one of Noriko-Chan's things, and that should be fine."

"Hmm…."

I considered for a moment, and then eventually picked one of my own collared shirts, in an inky shade of black, then selected a skirt before looking at Noriko's jackets. Eventually, I picked a light blue one that had darker blue-and-purple starburst patterns on it, and white buttons.

"Perfect. I'll go change."

I gathered up the clothes and went into the bathroom to change. Though this wasn't a date in any way, shape or form, I did admittedly want to look good when the time came, and having my friends around me helping me to get ready to see her was great fun. I didn't consider myself particularly girly as such, but the idea of just hanging out and getting ready in this way was something I sort of envied. I knew full well that I wouldn't have had done anything like this back when I had actually been in Rei, because of course none of them even knew in the first place, but it would have been wonderful if we had. If back then, we had been able to gather in a bedroom and fuss over clothes and the like, and to just laugh and encourage each other.

Of course, even if the relationship hadn't been a secret one and I had indeed gotten ready with friends, the end result would be the same now, since I wouldn't remember those times. Still, I wished for it.

Shrugging on the jacket over my shirt and skirt, I considered how it felt. Length-wise, it was actually perfect. It seemed like it would be tight if I buttoned it, but I had no intention of doing that in any case. But….I pursed my lips for a moment as I looked at my reflection in the mirror, then carefully rolled up each sleeve until it was just above my elbow, and had another look. _Yes._ I didn't think I looked quite ready yet, but I hadn't even done my hair or anything yet, so that was to be expected anyway. But putting that aside, I liked how I looked. I grinned, and scooped up my old clothes to take them back to the room.

"So, what do you think?" I grinned at them, striking a silly pose.

"You look good, Ho-Chi." Wakana said over Noriko's laughter.

"Yeah, you do. Here, I'll do your hair." Chieko was sitting cross-legged on the bed, which had been cleared of most of the clothes on it, and she patted a space in front of her. I grinned and went to the bed, hopping into the indicated space, turning my back to her so she could start to comb out my hair and style it.

"Don't do anything weird, okay?"

"I don't know _how_ to do anything weird." Chieko retorted before she proceeded. She had a surprisingly deft touch, and as she combed and tied my hair I found myself feeling young again, in the best possible way. While she continued with it, the four of us chatted about all sorts of things, and eventually, she released me.

"Turn around, Ho-Chi." I did, and she considered her handiwork for a moment before nodding decisively.

"Alright, you're done!"

I jumped off the bed and went to look in the mirror, regarding myself from a few angles. It was just a high ponytail, but Chieko had done something so that a small twist of my hair wrapped around the point where my hair was gathered, thus hiding the hairband that was actually holding the ponytail together.

"Hey, you're quite good at doing hair." Noriko exclaimed. Chieko laughed awkwardly, and shuffled over to the edge of the bed, though she remained sitting.

"Ehh, not really. I only really bother for Shizuka."

"Yeah, but still, you're good." I declared, taking a proper look at my overall reflection in the mirror.

"Now you're all ready to go, right?" Noriko grinned.

"Yeah…"

"What's wrong?" Wakana asked.

"Nothing…something's missing though."

"Missing?" Chieko and Wakana asked almost in unison. I nodded, but didn't answer as I stared at my reflection, feeling slightly narcissistic the longer I stared without figuring out. I struck a pose by putting my hands on my hips and tilting my head slightly. Confident, dressed up, the present Hokuto ready to face the past- _ah!_

"No, I've got it!"

"Huh?" The three stared at me in confusion, but so pleased to have figured it out, I ignored them as I went to the cupboard and knelt down to where I'd stashed my suitcase, and took out my purple box again. I put it on the ground next to me, and opened it so I could find what I needed. It didn't take me long to locate it, especially since it was stored carefully in a tiny plastic bag.

Once I'd put the box away and got up, I pulled the object out and held it up to them.

"A necklace?" Chieko asked.

"Yeah." It wasn't a particularly valuable or special necklace. It was just one that I had worn a lot back then, even before going to Hope's Peak, with a pendant shaped like the planet Saturn. But it was a link to the past as well. And that made it the perfect thing to wear to see Rei.

I undid the clasp, put the necklace around my neck, and then fiddled to redo the clasp. Adjusting the pendant so that it hung in the right place, I took one last look in the mirror before turning around to show the others my complete look. And finally, I felt like I was truly ready.

Ready to face the past.

* * *

 **This is another one of those chapters where I'm not even 100% sure how I managed to even write it, though this week it's not because I was distracted by writing another fic idea. Though with that being said, I am sort of in the process of being distracted by a fic idea, and I am going to be writing that next week, meaning that for the next update I will be putting up a Scraps of the Past chapter. The next two chapters after that will also be special ones, but for different reasons. By the time this chapter is up, I'll have put a status update relating to said reasons/giving more specifics on my profile, so have a look at that.**

 **Anyway, if anyone wanted a song recommendation for the week, I would 100% suggest 'Near' by Natsushiro Takaaki ft. Miku Hatsune (though the version that Natsushiro sings himself sounds a lot better than Miku's, to be honest). It's a beautiful song with a beautiful looking video and an it tells an interesting story...which, incidentally, is what the distraction-in-progress that I will be writing next week is about. ((Yep, somewhat ulterior motives in recommending the song, but it really is a nice song and I have been listening to it on a loop since I discovered it two days ago, so the recommendation is also motivated by genuine love for the song))**

 **So yeah, as always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	23. Scraps of the Past 4

**As mentioned before, here is Scraps of the Past 4, centring on Kiku Inoue, whose name I'm sure you'll all recognise as one that has been mentioned a fair few times. I guess I should put a sort of trigger warning here, since it's about her murder...so, yeah, trigger warning for murder portrayal.**

 **So, on with it.**

* * *

To put it mildly, Kiku Inoue was more than startled when her best friend Mika Kobayashi came up to her after school and said 'let's go home together'. It shouldn't have, of course. But for the past few months, they had been on strained terms, and after their classmate Murata had gotten arrested in connection to the Wishing Tree bombing and the teachers had been held a special assembly about the danger of the so-called Remnants, Mika had distanced herself completely.

And Kiku knew it was because on some level, Mika agreed with the Remnants. That some way, somehow, they had reached out to her and it had stuck. Of course, like any feeling human, Mika had expressed shock at some of the more horrific attacks, but it had not been the same. As any worried friend would have done, Kiku probed, but all that had done was get her shut out.

She'd been so very lonely because of that, and troubled because Mika was not usually like that. Sure, they held differing opinions on things, but they'd always, always managed to reconcile things. To respect each other. But the topic of what had been happening in their town seemed far too charged for that, and it was more than fear or shock. Kiku knew this. But she hadn't said a word, to anyone.

She had plenty of people to talk to. Her class teacher, some of the other members of staff. Her parents and aunt. Then there was Yukizome, the homeroom teacher of one of Hope's Peak's classes, just across the road. They took the same bus each morning and had gotten to talking. Despite Kiku being a Hope Valley High student, Yukizome treated her as though she was one of her own students, encouraging her to confide in her. She could have easily spilled all her concern and worry about Mika to Yukizome.

Yet for some reason, she had decided to wait, to bide her time and hope that she would get an opportunity to reconcile. And now, finally, it looked as if her patience had paid off, and she was glad that she had not said anything. Mika would have only felt betrayed.

 _And best friends don't betray each other, no matter the circumstances._

So once she had recovered, Kiku beamed and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Of course! Do you want to get something to eat on the way back?" she offered. Mika frowned, green eyes dancing as she considered this.

"Crepes? From the little stall by the bookshop?" Mika suggested hesitantly.

"Sure!" It was out of the way for both of them, but Kiku didn't mind. "Let's go then, it's on me!"

"Oh, you don't need to…."

"Nah, I want to, it's fine, really!" Kiku beamed. Mika blinked, and smiled.

"You're the same as ever, Kiku-Chan!" she said warmly as they left the classroom and made their way out of the school and onto the street.

It was the end of the day for Hope's Peak as well, and so across the road from them students in the distinctive uniform were streaming through the gates, laughing and joking with each other, walking in pairs or small groups. Some were heading to their off-campus accommodation, while others would be going home if they lived nearby to do so, but most were leaving the confines of the school for some leisure time before they would have to get back to not miss the curfew their in-campus accommodation had. Anyone who wasn't leaving now for these reasons had extra-curricular activities, just like anyone else. Even though she was just a Hope Valley High student, being in such close proximity to them meant that it was inevitable they'd know these things.

"Tch, look at them, so care-free and happy. Don't they know how good they have it?" Mika grumbled under her breath as they passed a small group of Hope's Peak kids who looked about their age. Kiku shook her head as she snuck glances at them. In all honesty, all she envied about them was the more obvious freedoms they had with their school uniform. Apart from that, well…. _surely underneath the talent, they're like us?_

"Ah, let them be, Mika! They're at least minding their own business, right?" she reasoned. "Besides, we're off to get crepes! Doesn't that make life pretty good for us, at least right now?"

Mika stared at her as if she was bonkers, but then threw her head back and laughed.

"Kiku-Chan, you're too kind and optimistic. But I missed that about you, really."

"You _did_?" Kiku didn't care if she sounded overly hopeful at that. "I missed _you_."

"Yeah, well….I have been a bit shitty recently, haven't I?" Mika turned sombre. "I mean, just because we have different opinions about things, shouldn't have gotten between us-nothing was supposed to come between us, no matter what. We promised that, didn't we?"

"It's been a tough few months everywhere in Japan, but especially for us here in Towa. I've been scared too. I mean, what if it turned out I survived being sick and everything as a baby only to die in a bombing….."

… _.or a murder. After all, your name makes you the perfect target._

"No! That won't happen…..but oh god, I thought that our rule was meant for when the boys started flocking around you and making me jealous, not something like this." Mika attempted a laugh, but it fell flat. Kiku sighed, and patted her shoulder.

"Don't be silly," she consoled. "The boys will all be flocking around _you_. Just you wait and see."

Mika laughed again, this time warmer.

"Yeah, yeah, but anyway…with the stuff that's happening, can we just agree to disagree and become friends again? I really, really missed you."

 _Agree to disagree….._ for some reason, the phrasing left a bad taste in Kiku's mouth. Any plans she had to try and get into Mika's state of mind about these things were instantly dashed by those words. _But we're best friends, it has to be fine. Maybe later._ She'd been patient all these months, so surely a little while more couldn't hurt?

"Sure, alright."

Mika looked so pleased at this, that Kiku persuaded herself that it was fine and abruptly switched the subject. As they approached the crepe stand they chatted about everything and anything, the usual complaints and gossip and funny anecdotes, catching up with everything they hadn't shared over the last few months. When they reached the crepe station, Kiku once again insisted on paying for both their crepes, and they each brought two different flavours, so that they could swap with each other.

"Hmmm….I don't even like peanut butter, but this isn't too bad." Kiku pronounced when she had eaten her piece of Mika's crepe.

"Yeah, well, I quite like this chocolatey one. I'm so getting it next time." Mika declared.

"Maybe we could make it a weekly thing? Every Friday, like now?" Kiku suggested. Mika bit her lip at that, and seemed to drift off. Kiku frowned at her, wondering what was going on when just like that, the moment was gone and Mika lit up again.

"Sure! Next time it'll be on me. Ah, excuse me a moment!" Mika struggled a moment to get her phone out of her bag, so Kiku quietly offered to hold her crepe while she did so. Mika switched on the screen, tapped in her password to open it, and then frowned at whatever message she received. Briskly, she tapped out a reply and waited a moment, before locking her phone and sliding it back in her bag, and taking the crepe back from Kiku and biting solidly into it, suddenly looking troubled.

"Mika…?" Kiku hesitantly asked. Mika blinked, and sighed.

"My idiot Onii-san, asking me to run his errands for him. Tch, he's a functional adult, why can't he?"

"Ahh." Kiku nodded. She hadn't seen Mika's brother for a long time either, but from what she did remember of him, Mika's annoyance seemed understandable. _But…._

"I could come with you to do whatever's needed, if you want," she offered. "A task shared is a task halved, right? I'd just need to text my parents-"

"Nah, nah. I told him to sod off, anyway." Mika said, dissuading Kiku from pulling out her phone. "Let's just get home, 'kay?"

"Sure!" But Mika remained tense and drawn, and there was something about the way that her eyes were darting that gave Kiku pause. She tried to mask it by chattering cheerfully and engaging Mika in more mindless conversation, but her reservations remained.

 _Something's not right, is it? But what is it?_

"Oh, _fuck_!"

"Mika?"

The two friends came to an abrupt stop, and Kiku stared at Mika's sudden outburst.

"My scarf, Kiku-Chan! When did it come untied from my bag? Where did it go?" Mika asked, gesturing to the handle of her school bag. Sure enough, the filmy purple scarf that was usually tied into a loose bow was now no longer there, and now Kiku was thinking about it, she didn't remember seeing it a moment ago, when Mika had answered her phone…

"I'm not sure…maybe at the crepe stand…."

"Goddammit, I can't have lost it, _I can't_ …" Mika shook her head rapidly, panicking more with each second. "When did I last have it…..? I'm sure I had it when I left school…."

 _Did you?_ Kiku couldn't remember either.

"It's okay, let's try going to the crepe stand first, and if it's not nearby, we can go back to school, it's no big deal….."

But Mika had already taken off, and so Kiku had no choice but to go after her. Of course, given her own frailty and Mika's athletic prowess, she soon lost sight of her, and had to stop because she was out of breath.

"Mika…you could have waited….." Kiku muttered in annoyance as she leaned against the brick wall and took a few deep breaths, trying to get her energy back. _Ah, there's no use complaining._ She, of all people, knew what the scarf meant to Mika. _I'll just send her a text message, and see if she wants me to help…._

Kiku put her bag on the ground in front of her and searched for her water bottle, and gulped down what water was left. At least she had eaten just moments before, otherwise no doubt she'd be feeling all light-headed on top of everything. Then, she waited, and when she felt she had mustered some strength, she pulled out her phone, zipped up her bag again, and stood up, surveying her surroundings as she unlocked her phone and prepared to compose her message. But just as she had typed the first sentence, and Mika's name, she saw a flash of familiar bright red hair streaming out behind a figure as she rushed down an alleyway across the road.

 _Mika!_

With little regard to anything else, Kiku darted across the road and down the alleyway, trying to pursue the figure. The path led her to a left turn, and then another, which she promptly went down…only to reach a dead end.

 _Oh holy crap._ She looked around, but asides from a couple of trash cans, there was nothing here.

 _And that just means trouble. So just get the hell out of there, and go home! Mika can explain herself tomorrow morning at school!_

But the moment she took a step, a small group of masked people appeared out of nowhere, and she knew that things were going to end badly. For those weren't just any old masks, but the ones they had been warned against for months, the mask of the mascot of the Remnants, the people who had been wreaking havoc everywhere. The black-and-white bear that they called Monobear.

 _B-but….I wasn't alone….I was with Mika! This can't be right!_

"A-ah, I'm s-sorry. Could you let me through, I was s-searching for a friend a-and-"

"Is this the one?!" one of the masked people said in a gruff masculine voice, turning to another. The other masked person, who seemed smaller and female, seemed for a moment to stare at her, but then she nodded once, neatly. Kiku gulped as the man turned back to her.

"Well, it looks like you followed through, but we'll have to ask anyway. "The masked man said, stepping forward and looming over her. "After all, She will be mad if we were to make a mistake at this stage."

' _She'? The leader? Who is she, and why…?_

"So then, girl, what's your name?"

"Kiku. Kiku Inoue." She stated, trying to sound brave. She usually explained her name after this, but this time, she didn't. Let them believe that it was written how it usually was, and perhaps she would….

"Hope Valley High? Hmmm…."

Though of course she couldn't see the expression on the man's face, there was something about the obvious way in which he looked her up and down that made her shudder. But she had little time to ponder it, for suddenly, two of the masked people-of undetermined gender-suddenly lunged and each grabbed one of her arms and pushed her up against the wall. Kiku shrieked, and tried to wriggle away, but they seemed insanely strong.

"So, you're the Kiku whose name is written with the characters of 'hope' and 'long life'?"

 _No. No, no, no._

"I-I don't know wh-what you're talking about." She stuttered.

"She lies!"

Kiku stared at the masked female. Her voice sounded odd and muffled, almost as if she was trying to disguise it.

"S-she boasts about it all the time, how she n-nearly died as a baby because she was so sickly, but her parents gave her this name that prove everyone who believed that to be wrong, and she uses it as her motivation for…everything! She likes living up to her 'hope for a long life' and everything, and even finds it funny when people assume she's named for the flower….she lies!"

Kiku had to strain to hear the girl's words through the indistinctness of her voice, but she managed to decipher the words well enough. _No…how? Who…..a classmate?_ She was starting to form a suspicion, but she did not want to believe it.

"I don't know what you're talking about! But whatever you've done to Mika, stop it and let her go! Do you hear me, let her go!"

This, for some reason, made the male ringleader laugh as she struggled against her captors, who didn't seem to be relaxing their grip. Still laughing, the male reached into the folds of his black clothes and pulled out a knife. A long, silvery knife with a black and white handle.

 _No….._

"How disgusting, this hope. But don't worry, little girl, instead of hoping for a long life, you can now despair at your life ending so abruptly." He declared. He pressed the knife lightly against her throat, and smirked as she drew in a breath and attempted to recoil. He brought the knife down to her torso, and looked as if considering making the next blow, but he surprised her by turning around and addressing the masked female whom, along with the other masked person, appeared to be keeping watch for any possible passers-by.

 _Please, somebody come….Mika…._

"Aaand, it looks like we can throw in some betrayal into the mix. Here, you do it. And take off your mask."

"H-huh?" still muffling her voice, the female startled as she was handed the knife. "Me? Are you sure."

"Well, she's not going to live to tell the tale, is she?"

"I-I….."

"Oh? Are you not really loyal to us and our cause? She thought you were so promising…."

"I am!" the female was quick to correct, grabbing the knife. For a moment, Kiku watched her stare at it, before hesitantly, she reached up and pulled the mask from her head. She carefully set it to the side, then shook out her red hair, before quickly striding up to her. The male took her old place, and watched patiently as they faced each other.

"Mika….."

Kiku couldn't even ask why. What possible explanation could there be for this? She should have done something earlier, should have raised her concerns to her teachers or her parents or her aunt or Yukizome, she shouldn't have been worried that Mika would feel betrayed by her worries. In comparison to this, right here and now, that was no betrayal at all.

 _Why? Why do you believe in this so badly that you're willing to see me die?_

Mika's lip curled, and as the other masked people laughed, Kiku realised that she had asked her question aloud.

"You wouldn't understand, Kiku. You just wouldn't. You're too….hopeful."

 _And that's such a bad thing?_ Kiku made sure not to say this aloud. There was no getting through, she knew this. She _should_ have known this. After everything that had happened in her life, she was going to die like this, at the hands of her best friend.

 _Best friends don't hurt each other….._

"Mika. Mika, listen to me. Can't you try to explain…" Kiku trailed off. The moment stretched out, for a moment suspending them in time, and in it she considered making an unexpected move, screaming for help or trying to push past or something. Surely there were still others on the street she'd just come off? People she could alert, people who could save her.

And, when it came to it, save Mika, too. Because this wasn't her, it couldn't be? How could a friend have changed so badly, beyond recognition? _Is she really your friend though now, after this?_ She pushed the nagging voice away forcefully. She didn't want to think that. No, there had to be something she could do, something to change this situation and perhaps this time they'd be able to see eye to eye…

But then, Mika advanced, and there was a flash of silver, and Kiku knew that there was nothing that could be done. No changed minds, no escape, no salvation. Instinctively, she tried to back away; only for the wall she was against to scrape her back, so she remained still, and then it hit her-there _was_ something she could do.

 _Make this pointless to their goals. If it has to happen, make it pointless._

"It's fine, Mika." She tried to smile as Mika paused for the briefest of moments, tilting her head, dull green eyes assessing her.

"What's that meant to mean?"

 _The last thing I can do. Because we're still best friends, after all._

"Mika….it's okay….I…..I forgive you. I forgive you."

 _This much, I can still do for you, as a best friend._

* * *

 **So...this, out of all the Scraps of the Past chapters that I've already written (both already uploaded and the pre-written ones), this one was probably honestly one of the hardest ones to do. Probably because some of it is about the actual murder as it happens, and I'm not so great at that sort of thing. Which, incidentally, is why I'm not going to be writing actual scenes of Chisa's torture, but I digress. The point is that this probably isn't the best written Scraps of the Past, but I can promise you I worked hard on it. Still, at least now you know a little more about what happened to Kiku Inoue, and who she was as a person, and also this might give you some more sense of stuff that happened in the lead up to the MKG...The Remnant's campaign of Despair, as I think of all these events.** **There's still a week and a bit before I go away (see status update on my profile!) though so you can still ask me questions about any mentioned event you don't understand.**

 **So, um, anyway, last week I mentioned a distraction and a distraction-in-progress that are the other reason you'll be basically getting three special chapters in a row. Those are both finished and published, and both of them are song-fics in different ways. One is called 'Before the Beginning, and After' and the other one is called 'Questions Without Answers', and both are complete (the former a one-shot, the latter a three-parter) and well, yeah, if you are at all interested, even vaguely, it'd be nice if you read one or both and possibly even left me a little feedback. It'd make me pretty happy, since both those fics became pretty precious to me in the process of writing them and I'd love them to get attention. But of course, only if you want to/have time to etc.**

 **And well, yeah, that's all for now. The next chapter should come out around this time next week, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	24. Killer Moments: Erica Cain

**Technically I'm leaving on Sunday but doing too many things at the last moment is not good, so here you have it, the first Killer Moments chapter =D**

 **After looking at what everyone said about which case they knew about and which killer they were interested in seeing first, and thinking about how much I knew I revealed, I eventually came to the decision to put Erica's first. I've even decided on a specific order for the rest of them :)** **This one focuses specifically on moments after the killing, though there will be others that focus specifically on the moments before, and a couple being part-before, part-after. There isn't a real, logical reason as to why I would chose after-moments for this and before-moments for others, it was just a case of what flowed well for me, and what I thought would be the most interesting/impactful to read about.**

 **Anyway, another song recommendation before I go-Hachi's 'Sand Planet' ('Suna no Wakusei'), in particular the original version, an English cover by Riku Silver, and an Intense Symphonic Metal Cover by FalKKone ft. Rena. And with that, I'll stop and leave you to the chapter. I hope you enjoy it, and I'll see you with the next update when I return!**

* * *

When Erica got to her room, she quickly closed the door behind her-though she did not lock it-and went to the mirror hanging on the wall, and quickly inspected her reflection. _Good, no blood._ There had been so _much_. She had expected that Kanekatsu's end would be bloody-after all, she had planned it to be precisely like that. But she had not factored Daisuke into those plans, and that of course had resulted in yet more blood.

And though she could not properly admit it to herself, it sickened her, just a little.

Erica looked behind her to check she hadn't tracked any blood on the carpet-which would have been very bad indeed-then took off her converses and inspected the soles. They seemed clean, but she decided it was better safe than sorry, and opened her cupboard and hid them in the corner, before pulling out another definitely clean pair and sitting down to put them on. Once she had, she went to her desk, pulled her notebook out from her pocket, and put it down, before sitting down on the chair, and contemplating the pens in the desk tidy. She pulled one out at random, then opened the notebook to a blank page.

"Now, what to write, Erica?" she asked herself. "These will be your last words, after all."

Spinning the pen around absently, she thought of the words she needed to say, the words that would explain everything to them, that would serve as her record, rendering her immortal even when she met her end. Because she _would_ meet her end after all this was over. It would be a failure if she didn't. _I need these words to count._

"Ah."

Inspiration came, and she grinned to herself. Stopping the pen in its motion, she placed the tip of it to the blank page, and began to write.

 **…**

 _To the ones I leave behind,_

 _Chieko Akamine, Wakana Abe, Masashi Kita, Akira Kazama, Tyson De Guerre, Noriko Edano, Hokuto Nanto. The seven survivors. I'm not sure yet, to whom I'll actually hand over this record of my life to, but this is for all of you._

 _By the time you receive this, I will have explained it all to you anyway. Why I killed Kanekatsu Iwafusa, why I also killed Daisuke Ueno, everything. When you look through the rest of this notebook, you'll see I have more detailed notes in here. Perhaps, for Abe-san in particular, this will give you some closure, knowing precisely what happened to them, how long it took for them to die, the last things they said. When you escape, and find the authorities, you can give this to them too, and then they will be able to know what happened for sure. And I say 'when' there, it is because I truly believe that now, once the trial is over, once I've had my execution-I wonder what that will be like, actually. Perversely, I hope it will be something a touch more traditional than the depraved spectacles we've been treated too so far. Perhaps a medieval hanging, or a gladiator-style execution. But I digress, and besides, I suspect when you actually read this, you'll know for sure whether this happens or not._

 _But let me go back to what I was going to say, and reiterate the things I know I will be telling you all later-this was not a matter of wanting to kill. Not in the usual sense of desire, or fear, or the point of no return, such as the motives of the classmates we've seen die already. But because I knew something needed to change, and wanted so badly for it to happen. How could you have not seen it, the fact we've been trapped in a cycle, of killing and shock and feeble promises that each time will be the last? The past has often shown that it's only a really shocking event that shakes people out of their stupor and forces them to change things. That is what this is. And though I am no fortune teller, I think this will end up being the thing that does that for you. I sincerely hope it will be. Just because I've been smiling at every bad thing that's happened here, you think that I like it? Of course not! But smiling is how I survived up until now, encountering every injustice of the past. Smiling is how I will get through the rest of this, until you find me out._

 _There is something else I will need to tell you, and that, I will write about here, because I do not think the trial will be the right place to do it. Do you guys still have your secrets with you? The ones Monobear gave us a while back, the one that encouraged Oshiro-san to kill? Well, let me tell you mine-the smiley face pin that's on my blazer right now, the one that I wear with absolutely everything? It's not just a pin, but a camera, too. My dad made it for me. I used it to record everything that was happening around me. History, in real time. Amazing, right? And yes, that meant filming everyone without their consent, but come on, you really think you would have acted naturally if you'd known you were being filmed? Of course not._

 _In any case, the most important thing to know about the camera is that it's supposed to have enough capacity to last for two months, three if I turned it off at night. Every so often, once it is full, I load the files onto my laptop, and start afresh. The last time I started afresh in this way was when I started at Hope's Peak, the intention being creating a new folder of all my recorded experiences here. And until we got trapped, I had indeed been turning it off each night. So it should not have run out of space barely a day after Ueda-san died. So, why did it? With no laptop, there was no way for me to view the files to get an answer, so I found myself pondering this, and eventually, after Arata-san's death, I came up with an answer._

 _We've been here for much longer than a month. I am not sure how much longer, but perhaps Yukizome-sensei telling us that we'd known each other for almost a year may not have just been the delusions of someone in extreme pain. She may have been close to the truth. And before you dismiss that as ridiculous-think about it. Our windows have been boarded up, there is no source of natural light. We only have Monobear's rules and clocks to go by, not to mention the routines we have all been making for ourselves. It is possible, though I do not know how it could be. _

_I used these speculations to lure Iwafusa-Chan to her death, but I do believe that there is something here. And I am hoping that you will think the same too, and that you will find out the answers. And that you will finally, finally get out of here. I wish that I was able to join you, but that won't be. And given what I've done, it is only right that that is so. After all, for every time somebody has gotten away with an injustice in the past, others have been made to pay. And I am one of those who will eventually be made to pay, and when that happens, I'll go there smiling. Still. Please don't hate me, okay? I don't want to be the thing that drags you down._

 _It was good to know you all for the short amount of time that I did._

 _With much joy and sorrow,_

 _Erica Cain, SHSL Historian, 11_ _th_ _May 2009 (?)_

 **…**

Erica put the pen down, and stared at her words for a while, barely breathing, hardly thinking. Her eyes suddenly started to feel wet, and surprised, she put her fingertips to them.

"Huh? Why am I crying?" she asked aloud, discreetly wiping them away, and laughing a little. _How silly. You should be celebrating. This is the thing that's sure to stir them._ She let out a breath, and leaned back in her chair. Then, after a moment, she sat up straight again, put the pen back in her desk tidy, then snapped her notebook closed and tucked it back into her pocket before getting up and heading back to her bed. It would only be a matter of time, after all, before they were discovered, it would be best if she had a nap to conserve her energy for the battle ahe-

 _Oh?_

Startled by the sound, she paused in her tracks, and listened. _Is that…ah, yes, it is._ It was distant enough that she couldn't tell who, exactly, it was. But that didn't matter. She knew a scream when she heard one, and that meant only one thing-they had been found.

 _Ah, it's time._

Erica steeled her shoulders, fixed a smile on her face, and went out to follow the sound.


	25. Scraps of the Past 5

**Hi, I'm back now! :) Here's the next Scraps of the Past chapter, as promised. I will start writing the next chapter on Sunday, so it should be out about a week from that point. Thereafter, I should be able to update in roughly regular periods.**

 **Anyway, as always, hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Leaning back in her office chair, Kyouko Kirigiri looked around her and wondered what she should do next. She had just closed three active cases and received payment on them, and the others that were open were currently low-level, cheating-spouse type cases that she had already made plans for progressing those later in the day. In fact, her three co-workers were all out on assignments relating to the cases in question. So at that present moment, there was not all that much to do.

 _Perhaps lunch,_ she thought. It was past lunchtime, and she needed to eat, and it would be fine to lock up, leave a note on the door and pop over to the café across the road. But then her mobile phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out and answered it without looking at the display.

"Hello."

"Ah, Kyouko. I'm glad I managed to catch you. I hope this isn't a bad time for you."

"Father." Kyouko sat up and gave herself a moment to take a breath. "What's the matter?"

"Two things, really. First, I wanted to check that you're alright." Her father said.

"I am fine, as always." Even after all these years, Kyouko had to bite back the instinctive, angry response from her adolescence. "Unless you're talking about the work of the group that call themselves the Remnants of Despair."

"Yes….I am. I trust you and your colleagues are being careful."

"None of us have any obvious reason to be particularly targeted, but yes, we're taking appropriate safety measures. You don't need to worry about any of us, Father."

"Kyouko, are you forgetting yourself?"

Kyouko raised an eyebrow at the question. But already, she was pulling together everything she knew about the events that had been happening, and she quickly deduced what her father was referring to.

"You mean the fact that I once attended Hope's Peak?" she asked.

Her father didn't say anything for a moment, instead letting out an audible breath, and she knew that she was correct. And that meant she also knew what her father's second query would be.

"You know, don't you, what the latest speculation is?" he asked, eventually. His voice had gone quiet, and small.

"If by that you mean the possibility that Hope's Peak will be the next target, then yes, I am aware." She answered levelly, glancing over at the wall opposite to her. On the other end of the line, her father sighed again.

"I see. And what do you think of this….rumour?"

"Father, are you asking me to investigate the possibility?" this time, she didn't bother to hide the irritation she felt. _Don't dance around the topic. It's easier to just come out with it._

"Kyouko….." there was a long pause, and Kyouko imagined her father hanging his head in defeat, thinking of the strains their relationship had gone through over the years.

"If you would, please. Please. I have a duty to Hope's Peak as its Principal. If I just sit here doing nothing when I could have easily protected everyone under my charge…"

"I assume you're already making sure to increase security, and other such safety measures."

"Yes, of course I am! And, I am making my own inquiries as to the investigations, however….."

 _You're still a high-school principal by day, not a detective._ Once again, Kyouko took a breath. This was one thing she still struggled to come to terms with. There were plenty of ways to be a detective and remain true to the Kirigiri name-this much she had learnt, because it was how she lived now. But to completely discard what their name meant…..she didn't understand how he could have done that.

Still, there was a reason she had not completely cut him out of her life, despite the fact that had been her initial only reason for trying to get noticed by Hope's Peak. Deep down, she was still a little girl who was ecstatic over learning how to fly. A girl who loved her father.

"Kyouko, if you'd rather treat this as something requested by a client, and not as a favour for your fath-"

"Why not both?" Kyouko cut him off abruptly. "I don't have many cases of my own, and my colleagues would probably benefit from being given larger responsibilities on those that are still open. So, I'll look into it."

"I….are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. "She said, simply. "But perhaps we should reschedule our monthly dinner to sometime sooner, so we can talk it over properly."

"Thank you, Kyouko." The relief was palpable, and she bit back a smile. They discussed a new date to meet up for dinner, and each of them made sure they had it noted, before her father reminded her to be careful as always, and then hung up.

For a moment, she just sat there, and then she put her phone back in her pocket before searching her desk drawers for a pen, stickers and two labels, and getting up and walking briskly over up to the board on the wall. Most of the incidents had been marked on the large map with stickers-different colours denoting whether it had been a straightforward murder, a simple bombing or something that had initially been disguised as something else. But now she wrote 'Hope's Peak Academy' on one label, and 'Hope Valley High' on another, and stuck them both on the map in the relevant places. After that, she added a few more stickers for some of the incidents she hadn't yet noted on there, including the recent murder of Hope Valley High student Kiku Inoue.

Thinking of that particular case made her frown. It hadn't taken very long for someone to come forward-Mika Kobayashi, best friend and classmate. She had confessed, claiming remorse for luring her friend into the trap of the Remnant's making. But when reviewing the video of the interrogation (that a contact in the police force had allowed her to access), it didn't seem like it was so simple. The girl seemed remorseful for the fact that it was her friend who had been killed, rather than the act itself. Her eyes seemed glassy and her movements limp and nonchalant, as though she was bored. She was not particularly rattled by the idea of arrest and sentencing, unusually for a teenager. And though it was patiently obvious she grieved Kiku Inoue, to Kyouko's eyes it seemed that there was a part of her that seemed excited by the fact of her own pain. And adding that to the fact that a small badge portraying the animated bear that had appeared in the group's videos had been found on Mika Kobayashi's person…..

… _this is a dangerous cult. But so much more than that._

Despite the map taking up most of the space, there was still enough for some sheets of paper, so she went back to her desk and quickly wrote a list of the places attacked and the people killed so far, making sure that wherever the word or the character for 'hope' appeared in the names of the places and people, it was highlighted. For the few institutions that didn't directly have 'hope' in their name, she wrote a note about why the place linked into the concept of hope. The Wishing Tree was by far the easiest one to do this for, but a couple of others, she had to take a few moments to look it up. Once this had been done, she stuck them onto the board, next to the map, and stepped back to regard it all, frowning.

The pattern was all too easy to see, even before she had plotted it out on the map. Hope, the opposite of despair. Though it was a literal way of going about it, it made a certain sick sense. Despair, eliminating hope. It was a surprise that at this point, they hadn't gone after Hope's Peak. Or even Hope Valley High, though that school wasn't really known for anything more than having the dubious fortune of being located opposite Hope's Peak. Still, with the name that it had, it too was a prime target.

 _But its students have become increasingly involved in the crimes somehow. And now there's Kiku Inoue. So in a way it has been targeted, but….._

Kyouko gasped suddenly, as a thought formed. She had not even started an investigation yet, this was little more than a brainstorm. _And going into an investigation with preconceptions clouds the truth._ But faced with what she had plotted together, somehow she knew that she would find this to be correct anyway. Though her father was correct in assuming it to be such anyway, Hope's Peak was not _just_ an almost certain subsequent target.

It was the main aim.

 _But when?_


	26. Realisations

_Hokuto_

Tyson, Akira, Masashi and Shizuka all appeared as I came down the stairs. Almost immediately, Shizuka's eyes widened and she stared, awestruck.

"Hokuto-san, you look pretty." She breathed out. I couldn't help but laugh as I went to put my shoes on.

"Thanks, Shizuka-Chan." I grinned.

"Yeah, have to agree with her, you don't scrub up too badly." Masashi teased.

"Shut up." I stuck my tongue out at him before turning away to bend down and adjust my shoes. _And, now it's time._ There was a part of me that wanted to delay, to put this off. But at the same time, I'd never wanted to get there faster. And both of these feelings were because of Rei.

"So, are you sure you don't need to be dropped off or picked up? It's not any trouble, seriously." Akira asked.

"No, no." I straightened and shook my head. "Really, it's fine. If I do need picking up though, I'll call."

"Then, I'll keep an eye on my phone."

"Wait, what about when she comes back?" Tyson asked suddenly, before looking at me. "You don't have a way to get in."

 _Ah. Yes, indeed._ How I hadn't thought of that before, I had no idea. Clearly, Akira was just as stumped, and there were a few moments of silence as we all considered this.

"It's okay. I'll wait up."

We all turned to look at Wakana, sitting at the top of the stairs with Chieko and Noriko. She smiled softly.

"I'll probably be awake anyway, just send a message to me and I'll open the door."

"No, on the group chat. Then it's guaranteed one of us will see it, and we'll be waiting to let you in." Akira corrected.

"Wouldn't a spare key be better?" Noriko wondered.

"Nah, this way is fine with me-if it's fine with you." I looked at Wakana and Akira as I said this, and Wakana sighed before fixing me with another wistful smile.

"As I said, I'll probably be awake anyway, so it's fine."

"Cool. Well, I'd better get going, hadn't I?" I said, adjusting the strap of my handbag and moving to the door. Akira came to unlock it for me.

"Enjoy yourself, Ho-Chi." Chieko called down.

"And take care." Wakana added.

"Will do!" I responded cheerily to both of them, and waved before I stepped out and closed the door behind me, leaving it for Akira to lock again. I hesitated for a moment, standing on the doorstep, but then I shook it off, and started to walk.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

Once Hokuto had left, we went down the stairs to join the others.

"Sooooooo…..what now? Dinner?" Noriko asked.

"Why are you always asking about fu-freaking food?" Masashi asked.

"Well, to be fair, Ho-Chi has just left for dinner." Wakana shrugged. I nodded.

"That's a good point. Shizuka, are you hungry?"

Shizuka frowned up at me, and considered the question carefully.

"I don't know, Mummy. I don't think so." She eventually answered, making me chuckle a little.

"How about getting something to eat outside? Nanto's doing so, after all, we may as well do something a little different too." Tyson suggested.

"We can't go out, what if we run late and Hokuto-Chan comes back?" Wakana objected.

"Takeaway, then." Akira said decisively. We considered this for a moment, then we all nodded.

"Duh, that makes sense."

"I'll go then. What should we get? Anyone got any preferences?"

"As long as it isn't too far and too inconvenient or anything, then I don't really mind." Wakana said. "You guys?"

"Psh, yeah, what she said." Masashi said, making a flippant hand gesture.

"Yeah, surprise us." Noriko grinned.

"Alright then." Akira frowned, and then his face cleared. "I'll just get my wallet then."

"Do you want someone to come with you?" Wakana asked as he started to climb up the stairs. Akira turned and paused, looking back at us.

"Well…." Akira tilted his head slightly, and seemed to think about it.

"Mummy, can I go?"

"Huh?" surprised, I stared down at Shizuka. "Why?"

Shizuka shrugged at that.

"I don't know, I'm bored. We've been inside all day, you know."

"Ah…" I looked down at my clothes. Nothing inappropriate about them, per se, but they were rumpled and not necessarily presentable. If Shizuka were to go with Akira, then I'd have to change, and I didn't really feel like it.

"It's fine, you don't need to come along as well, if you'd prefer to stay home, Akamine-san. I'll be fine with Shizuka by myself"

I stared at Akira.

"No, there's no need…"

"It's fine, really. It wouldn't be any trouble. "

There was silence then, as we all waited. Not even Shizuka asked what was going on, as we stared at each other.

 _I wasn't sure what made me look up at the sound, but I looked up anyway. Akira was walking towards me, slowly and carefully, coming to a stop a few steps in front of me. Then, he just stood there, and stared at me, though it seemed like he was looking through me._

" _What do you want, Kazama-san?" Kanekatsu asked. I glanced at her. She'd been around me all day-I'd gone to her room for tea, then I'd been escorted back to my room to sleep, and then time had passed blurrily until I was here, for dinner, and she was back to sitting at my table with Wakana and myself. It was Koutarou's seat that she was sitting in, but the protest at that had felt to heavy in my mouth, so I'd let it fall away._

" _Kazama-Chan, I…..are you alright? I mean, under the circumstances, do you need to talk or?" Wakana started to get up, but Akira gave her a swift shake of the head, and then he knelt down, so that we were making eye contact._

" _I'm sorry, Akamine-san."_

" _F-for what?" the words felt like paper balled up in my throat._

" _Everything. That I blamed you, when it wasn't your fault. That I forgot that you've just lost something-someone-important too. That…that this even had to happen."_

" _Ah….."_

" _I'm sorry." Akira reiterated. He waited, and so did I. He for my response, me to actually be able to make it. But what could I say? It was not okay, after all, was it? It would be a lie to say that._

" _I…know." I managed to squeeze out. Akira closed his eyes for a moment, then nodded and opened them again, before getting up. He looked at me, though with what emotion I couldn't tell, before walking back to Daisuke and Masashi, who-I now realised-had been waiting in the background and watching our exchange._

I sighed, breaking the moment.

"Are you sure? Absolutely, 100% sure?" I checked. Akira pursed his lips, and looked at Shizuka, who stared back.

"I am. Anyway," he smiled a little. "The place I'm thinking of going is just around the corner."

"Well then….okay. Shizuka, you definitely want to go?"

"Yes!"

"Alright then. If you want to take your bag or Yosa with you, go up and get them quickly."

"Okay!"

As Akira went up to get his wallet and Shizuka bounded up behind him to grab whatever she was going to take with her, I watched them. And I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

 **…**

 _Akira_

Shizuka didn't say anything as we started to walk down the street, seemingly content to just stay by my side and look around her. I wasn't sure if I should ask her to hold my hand or not, and even less sure if she would actually comply, but I thought as long as I was careful, all would be fine. She didn't strike me as the type of child to be reckless outdoors.

"Have you been having fun here, Shizuka?" I asked after a little while. Shizuka looked up at me.

"Here?"

"At my house, with us." I clarified.

"Yeah! I like playing with Wakana-san and Masa-san, and the cat from your garden. "

There was a moment's beat, and then she added.

"You're nice, too."

"That's good to hear. What about what we've been doing? Are you….." I gave myself a moment to think of the right way to put it. "Happy with it?"

"You mean going to visit dead people? And giving everyone all those paintings?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Mummy explained it to me, you know, about the paintings and why we went everywhere to give them out." Shizuka nodded confidently. "She's letting me have the painting of Daddy. I'm going to put it in my room."

"That's…also good to hear."

"But I don't get how you're not all sad all the time."

"What do you mean-ah, careful, we're at a crossing."

Shizuka puffed her cheeks out in annoyance at this.

"Akira-san, I'm in first grade!" she complained.

"Ah, sorry about that." I apologised, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. "So what do you mean about us all not being sad all the time?"

"You know so many people who died. And it's sad when people die. So you should be really, really sad, right? I don't want you to be sad or anything, but…."

"Ah, well….erm."

 _Alright, that got heavy fast._ I waited until we had actually crossed the road before I even tried to think of an answer. _Is this the real test?_ On some level, I felt that Chieko was testing me with her trust by letting Shizuka come with me unaccompanied. Not necessarily for her safety-though I knew that was part of it, simply because she was a parent-but about _this_. How much I'd let the past come up.

Then again, that, too, was about safety, wasn't it? If I did ever end up having a child someday (something I didn't think would ever happen, and shouldn't ever happen), I wouldn't want them to know about what had happened to me. At least, not until they were older than Shizuka, and possibly even older than we all were when it happened to us. I knew it wasn't something that could be 100% hidden, but for as long as possible I'd want to protect any child of mine from it all. I supposed Chieko felt the same way. But she had more reason to want to keep things that way.

And I knew that if I had been in Chieko's exact position where all that was concerned, I'd feel that way.

"Akira-san?"

"We _do_ feel sad, Shizuka. All the time. We've just learnt how to better deal with it."

"Deal with?"

"Yes. Erm…how best to explain this?" my mind scrambled for a moment. "Life still goes on, even when you're too unhappy for it to do so. So after a while of crying, or hiding, or whatever you do when you're really sad, even if you still feel that way, you have to sort of put it away and then get up and join life again. And find ways to make the sadness stay away, so you don't have to go and hide away all the time. "

"What sort of ways?" Shizuka asked, nodding seriously. If she was sitting down and listening to me, I was sure she'd be trying to take notes right now, the look she had on her face.

"Going to work-or to school. Exercising, eating food. Sometimes even cooking the food can be a good way of coping. Talking to your friends."

I decided that mentioning smoking probably wouldn't be the best idea.

"What about playing with my friends? Would playing with my friends make me feel better if I was sad?" Shizuka asked as she absorbed this information.

"It can do, certainly. Being with friends in general can help. Or family." I swallowed a lump in my throat at that and tried to continue. "Just keeping busy. Finding things to do that fill up your day, or make you happy?"

"Oh. Oh, okay."

"Ah, we're here, Shizuka." I pushed open the doors of the sushi restaurant and went straight up to the counter. There were some bar stools there, and Shizuka attempted to climb on one. She seemed to struggle for a moment, but just as I was able to go to help her, she managed to sit on it.

"Hello, Kazama-san." Tamako, a waitress I knew from the other times I'd come here, came up to the counter.

"Good evening." I addressed her.

"Takeaway order? Your usual?"

"No, actually. I've got friends staying with me, I'm getting something for our dinner tonight." I said, inclining my head slightly in Shizuka's direction. Tamako beamed at Shizuka.

"Oh, hello. And who are you?"

Shizuka's eyes widened, and she seemed to shrink a little as her cheeks pinked, but she did indeed answer.

"Shizuka Akamine."

"Nice to meet you, Shizuka-Chan. How old are you?"

"Six."

"Ohh, wonderful. Are you staying with Kazama-san."

"Mhm." Shizuka nodded. "He's friends with my Mummy and her other friends. From when they went to school, a _long_ time ago."

At that, I had to stifle a smile. Saying it was a long time ago made us sound a lot older than we actually were.

"Oh, a school reunion, that's nice. And that definitely calls for something special, don't you think? Okay, let me think about what we have…."

Tamako took the next few moments to find us a menu card, then point out particular options she thought we'd like, then left us for a moment to decide which ones to go for while she served other customers. Shizuka didn't seem to particularly mind either way, so I ordered a couple of large box meals that looked like they'd easily be split between us, as well as a few extra pieces. Tamako came back around just as I'd made the final decisions, so I made my order and paid for it, she passed it onto the kitchen, and then continued working.

Shizuka and I sat in silence. I checked my phone absently, while half keeping an eye on Shizuka, who looked around her at everything going on in the restaurant with wide eyes. I wondered what she was thinking about what she'd asked me and how I'd answered, if she was thinking it at all. I wondered if my answers had passed or failed the test.

 _We filed into the lift once again, and I went straight to a corner, even though we wouldn't be in here for much longer. Once everyone was on, the doors shut and it started to chug its way down. I could feel people staring at me, and I knew that Wakana and Chieko were very near to me, close by and waiting for any opportunity to help, futile as that was. But I couldn't look at them. How could I? If I could be so reckless as to let my own sister die, how could I look at them and call myself a Student Council President, ask them to trust me to know what to do?_

 _And now, I was realising, even before that, I hadn't been much help._

 _The lift shuddered to a halt, and the doors opened again. In a routine almost memorised by now, those at the front walked out sombrely-apart from Erica, who had a spring in her step as always-and I hung back a little bit, not quite ready._

Justice. You need to get Hibiki justice. It's the least you could do now, isn't it? Man up and get it for her. _The voice in my head was harsh, but it was what I needed to hear. I pushed myself forward, and left the lift to go to my own stand. Just as I was about to though, something made me glancing over to the side, only to see Koutarou, who seemed to be looking ahead at nothing._

 _Despite myself, I wondered if I should go and ask him if I was alright, even considering the circumstances. He hadn't been doing very much in the investigation, simply staying by Hibiki's body, which made me think that perhaps this had hit him hard too._ Well, of course. Hibiki was loved by many. Is loved. _It was at that moment he seemed to sense that he was being watched though, because suddenly, his narrow eyes focused and stared directly at me. A very slight expression of surprise crossed his face before it was gone with the moment._

 _And then, he mouthed what looked like the word 'sorry' before his more usual distant expression returned and shut him off to me. I blinked, and waited for something else, but that was it. So I just decided to take it for what it was-a condolence, one of many I'd already received-and took my place. Because right now, it was justice that was more important._

Just as the memory ended, Tamako came back with two bags.

"Alright, there's your order!"

"Thank you."

I took it, looked in each bag, giving the contents a cursory glance just to be sure, then I thanked her again and said my goodbyes, before motioning to Shizuka and leaving. I gave her the bag that was the least heavy, and she accepted happily, not seeming to have any particular trouble in carrying it.

"Hey, Akira-san?"

"What is it?"

"What does Mummy do, to try to not be sad all the time?"

"Well…." I puffed out a breath. "You'd have to ask her that, I think. I wouldn't necessarily know. "

"Why? You said having friends makes people happy and you're one of her friends, right?"

"Yes, well….Even so."

"Hmmmm." Shizuka sized me up for a moment, and whatever conclusion she made, she didn't press any further, much to my relief, and we walked back in silence, and I thought of Koutarou.

That moment in the courtroom, it was so fleeting that even now, sometimes, I wondered if it even happened. Especially since when Koutarou hadn't expressed anything except a simmering anger when he'd been outed. But I knew he wasn't heartless. Even in that moment, when I'd hated him more than anything for taking Hibiki away, I knew he wasn't heartless. Before the game had started, I'd thought that perhaps I'd count him amongst my friends with time (and I knew that in the evidence of my stolen memories, there was proof that this had come to be). But that little moment was still one I doubted. Thinking about it, I knew that back then, before I found out that it was him, I had assumed it to be generic-I'd seen him approach (if it could even be called that) Kanekatsu in a similar way, sometime after Yashiro had died.

It was only afterwards, much, much afterwards that it dawned on me-he hadn't wanted to do it, as such. And he knew, he knew all too well what it would do to us in the end. So even though he'd followed through with his horrible resolution, he'd wanted to make it right in some way. At least, that's what I thought. I had no way of knowing why he'd made a point of doing that, but what was clear was that it was more than I had assumed it to be. And if I had seen that one fleeting moment for what it was, if I had realised, then perhaps some of the pain left behind would have been reduced. Perhaps. At the end of the day, Chieko and I would have still lost people we'd loved. Koutarou would have still done something hideous and unforgivable, and I'd still hate him for that. That much would be true.

But still, something could have changed, if I had realised.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Shizuka asked, interrupting my train of thought. I looked over at her.

"Well, I don't know, but…" _Yukizome-sensei…_ at some point, I had to call Munakata, see if it was alright for us to visit. I had no idea when I was going to do that, but it had to be soon.

"Well, we've been figuring it out as we go along, so we'll probably do the same tomorrow. "

"Hmm, okay." Shizuka nodded at this. "So I'll have to ask Mummy then."

I smiled at this.

"That's an idea."

After this, conversation petered out, and we spent the short distance home in silence. It wasn't exactly awkward, but I did feel like I should have more things to say. But whatever I thought of sounded stilted and awkward, too much like I was trying to make an effort. I wondered how Masashi did it. He seemed more or less like a natural with Shizuka, even though we'd both met her at the same time (I'd seen her as a new-born, sure, but that wasn't really the same thing).

 _I wonder if that would have turned out differently, if I realised._

I shook my head at that. _Does it matter, though?_ It didn't change anything.

"Akira-san?" Shizuka frowned at me.

"Oh, it's nothing."

Luckily, at that moment, we got back to the house, so I didn't have to say anything else, and I simply went to open the door to let us both back in.

"We're back!" I called once we were inside.

Shizuka went straight ahead with her bag, and I followed her once I had locked the door behind me. We both put the bags on one of the kitchen counters, and then I started taking things out to sort them. A few moments later, Chieko wandered into the kitchen.

"Mummy!" Shizuka beamed, climbing off the footstool and rushing over. Chieko smiled at her.

"Did you have a nice walk?"

"Yup!"

"That's good. Do you want me to help with this, Akira-kun?" Chieko asked me. "We can easily handle it together, you can go put things away or clean up or whatever it is."

As if to confirm this, Shizuka beamed, and clambered back onto her footstool to continue taking things out.

"If you don't mind, then sure. There's nothing in particular that's meant for anyone in particular, we're just splitting everything between us according to what we want and how much of it, if that makes sense."

"Yes, that's perfect."

Chieko wandered over and started to look at everything, and I turned to make my way up. But then, just as I was almost out of the kitchen, I found myself looking back over my shoulder at the two of them, and I realised something.

" _What does Mummy do, to try to not be sad all the time?"_ Shizuka had asked me. And while I couldn't be sure, because just as I could not understand Koutarou's mind, I couldn't presume to know Chieko's.

But I was sure that right at this moment, I was witnessing the answer to that question.

* * *

 **It felt weird writing this chapter. Not because of the content so much as it's actually been a while since I actually wrote a normal chapter, and it took me a little while to get myself back in the heads of the characters and stuff like that. Doesn't help that I'm back to being distracted by chorus battle fanfiction again (I've been listening to Niðavellir's cover of 'gravityWall' on a loop for the past week and it's been giving me more ideas lol, and while I'm still talking about it I thoroughly recommend you all going to listen to it because it's just one of the best things ever). Still, I'm definitely back to more-or-less regular updates now, at least until something else comes up with my life.**

 **Anyway, this chapter and the next are sort of similar to the approach I took with the 'A Thousand Words' chapters in that their timelines are sort of alongside each other. The next chapter will be mostly about-if not entirely about (depending upon how long it ends up being)-Hokuto's 'date' with Rei, and the bulk of this chapter (so Chieko's POV and Akira's POV) is happening during the first part of that. I suspect I might end up using this sort of strategy a few more times in this story, because I think it works. Let me know if you disagree, though.**

 **So, yeah, I'll leave it at that. As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave feedback!**


	27. Time Will Tell

_Hokuto_

I slowed a bit as I approached the front of the restaurant, and checked the time. I was still a few minutes early, and I had no idea whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Peering in through the window, I saw a few people filling some of the tables-a couple of families, but mostly couples in all sorts of shapes and forms. Rei wasn't there though. _I guess I'll just wait here…_ I stopped by the door, making sure I wasn't in the way if anyone wanted to come out or in, and stood there, watching out for her.

Sure enough, a few moments later, she came striding across from the opposite direction I had arrived at, tucking strands of hair behind her ears and looking a little out of breath.

"I thought I was going to be late! Did I keep you waiting?"

"I literally just got here myself." I replied. Despite the situation, I couldn't help but grin widely, and Rei laughed for a moment. But of course, that moment passed, and her smile faltered.

"So….erm, do you want to go in? We might as well grab a table now, before more people come." She asked hesitantly.

"Sure, why not?" I shrugged. Rei nodded determinedly.

"Alright then."

I let her lead the way, though I wasn't really sure why, and we went to a table that was tucked away in the back, but still well-lit. I suspected that would probably be for the best.

"This place seems popular." I commented idly. "It certainly looks nice in here."

"Yeah, I guess. Their food and prices are good, for sure. But how crowded it gets in here can kind of fluctuate, with no particular pattern. At least, none that I could discern." Rei replied.

"You've come here a lot, then?"

"Sure. It's an easy meeting point, for when I come to see my friends who still around there. You know, like Kana and Ami."

"….I don't." I admitted after a far-too-long pause. Rei frowned at that, but then sighed.

"Ah. I'm sorry. They were classmates of mine from back then, I hung out with them from time to time and I would talk to you about them. That was silly of me."

"It's okay…." As I searched for something to say, a waiter noticed us and came over with two menus.

"Good evening, Yamagawara-san." _Okay, they recognise each other. Makes sense._ "Just the two of you, then?"

"Yes. This is Hokuto. She is…a friend I've not seen for a while."

 _Ouch._ For some reason the usage of 'friend' stung. I didn't say anything-after all, how else would she have described me. Instead, I just smiled at the waiter, who nodded.

"Well then, I'll leave you to make your decisions and come back when you're ready to order."

"That's fine. Thank you."

The waiter left, and then there was a moment of silence between us. We looked at each other, and I searched her face for anything, anything that would help me make sense of her. Anything that could trigger a memory, even if it was completely impossible.

" _What's today's date?"_

" _Ah, well, I haven't exactly been keeping track of time under the circumstances," I joked, eliciting a laugh from the doctor. "But I'm pretty sure it is the 13_ _th_ _of May."_

 _I smiled expectantly, but the doctor did not smile with me and move onto the next question. Instead, her expression faltered._

" _I'm sorry, could you try again? And tell me the full date, including the year."_

" _13_ _th_ _of May, 2009." I obliged, frowning. The doctor frowned, and wrote something down._

" _Am I a few days out? Erica-Chan, she wrote that she thought that maybe we'd been stuck in longer than a month." My mind scrambled for an explanation, and the doctor looked up, tapping her pen against her notebook while she studied me._

" _So…what's the last day you remember, before you got captured?"_

" _April 20_ _th_ _." I answered, no longer as confident as I had been before._

" _Ah. " The doctor let out a breath. "Nanto-san, the thing is…"_

"So, what have you been doing?"

We both asked this at the same time, and startled. I snorted, and Rei shook her head.

"No, sorry. "She apologised. "Shall I answer first?"

"Fire away." I said, pouring myself a glass of water from the pitcher that was already on the table.

"Ah…I guess I should start from after….after breaking up with you during the school festival. I actually moved a few weeks after-no, actually, probably just over a month, actually. It was all pretty fast. Mum's work, it was kind of a last-moment thing. I'm not even too sure now, but I was a bit pissed to be leaving behind my friends. On the other hand, I remember thinking it was great, because I could put even more distance between me and you. I spent my remaining high school days there, and I went onto uni there too."

 _More distance?_

"What about the children's book thing?" I asked instead. "Is that something you've always wanted to do?"

"I….yeah. I mean, not necessarily seriously, I always thought it'd be a side job, if even that. But I couldn't find a job straight out of university and I had time on my hands, so I decided to try-plan a proper series, write the first book, see if I could find an agent. I got lucky. So I kept writing, and kept getting lucky. And so here I am now."

"That's nice." I said, meaning it.

"So…what about you?" She asked.

"I got back home." I didn't think I needed to say _what_ I'd come home from. "And I wanted to keep busy, so I started helping out at the till at the café. Then Mum got sick-cancer-and then she died a couple of years after that."

I paused to swallow a lump in my throat, and after taking another long sip of water, I put my glass down.

"Hokuto, I'm so sorry….." Rei murmured, a hand to her mouth. "That's….I can't even imagine."

"Ah, I'm alright." I shrugged, feeling awkward. "I run the café now, with Orihime. We renamed it, so it's called Café Tanabata. And it's doing okay. But that's it, really. I've not really been doing anything else."

Rei nodded slowly. She picked up her menu and studied it, and I decided to follow her cue.

"I….so what do you want to ask me? About us, I mean. What do you want to ask?"

I didn't look up from the menu, so I had no idea if she was looking at me, but I shrugged.

"Rei, I've got so, so many questions, I don't even know. I guess the two main ones are how we even met in the first place, and then why we broke up. What happened on that day, that sort of thing…." I trialled off.

"Well, it was a convenience store." Rei said, to fill in the silence.

"What was a convenience store?" I asked.

"How we met. We bumped into each other in a convenience store at the end of April, possibly the first of May. It was in the evening, I was shopping for dinner, you were trying to find a toothbrush-you'd lost yours. Neither of us were in school uniform by then, and I suspect that might have helped us hit it off in the beginning."

"Yeah?" I tilted my head curiously.

"You must be at least slightly aware, how things were between my school and yours."

"Sure I am. "

"There you go, then."

"So why did we even….wouldn't it have been clear after a little while of talking? When we exchanged numbers or whatever we did back then?"

"Of course. The thing is…." Rei blew out a breath. "At that point, when we had first met, nothing had really _happened_. Especially as far as the Remnants went. And even though I was annoyed about the things I heard, even though I wanted Hope's Peak to acknowledge what I saw as our connection and treat us better….I was a seventeen year old girl, I was a romantic. And the idea seemed exciting, going out with the 'enemy'."

"…." This, too, stung. "Does everything about us circle back to Hope's Peak, then?"

Rei opened her mouth slightly, but just as she was about to respond, the waiter came by.

"Have you decided whether you want any starters?" he asked.

"Hokuto?" Rei asked. I blinked a moment, before realising that I hadn't actually read the menu that was in front of me.

"Uh…"

"It's okay, I'll get a sharing platter-this one, please." She pointed out something on the menu to the waiter, and he nodded before writing it down and moving away. Rei smiled at me, and I looked at her.

"What?"

"Ah, nothing, nothing. What were you asking before he came?"

I had to think about this for a moment.

"I asked if everything about us circles back to Hope's Peak."

"Ah." Rei pursed her lips, and looked away. "Yes, it does."

"There's no escaping it, is there?" I sighed, picking up my glass of water again and draining it of water. Rei looked back at me and watched for a moment. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Though I wasn't sure what I was expecting, really.

"So, um, I have some things to show you!" Rei said, extra bright.

"Things?"

"Yeah, like photographs and things, you know? Would you like to see them?"

"Sure."

"That's great." She let out a breath, and dug in her handbag before pulling out a small box. It was dark blue, slimmer than my own box, and she'd tied a ribbon around it for whatever reason, but I had to hold back a smile at how we'd both boxed up our pasts.

She set the box on the table, and untied the ribbon before lifting off the lid, and she pulled out a folded plastic wallet, in which a bunch of photos were nestled. She pulled them out, and fanned them out in front of me. I stared down at them, and picked up one at random, of us in casual clothes, standing under a tree whose leaves were just starting to come out. I was pulling a silly face, and Rei was laughing at it, so much she wasn't even facing the camera.

"We just went on a walk that day, I think. It was before the summer holidays, but neither of us had anything on after school so we took a bus out to a park somewhere far enough that there weren't too many of our classmates hanging around." Rei filled in.

I nodded, put it down, picked up another for her to explain.

"We went clothes shopping that day-I can't remember what we went for specifically, or if it was just for the fun of it, but at some point we ended up trying on the silliest outfit combinations we could find."

"Well that explains _that_ monstrosity." I laughed, pointing at the frilly pink top Rei was wearing in the photograph. She mock-glared, and sifted through the pile to find another one-this of me, in a hideous pair of dungarees.

"And this one." She retorted.

"Touché, touché. So, what about this one?"

I giggled, pulling another one. Rei obliged, and we passed the next few moments explaining the story surrounding each photo-where we had been, what we had been doing, any particularly remarkable things about that moment. When the waiter came with the starter plate, there was a bit of a flurry as we worked out how to accommodate both the plate and the pictures-which we'd spread out to take over the entire table at that point, but once we had, we picked up right where we left off-I picked a photograph, she explained it, we laughed and ate.

And for a little while, it was fine. Beyond simple mentions of the 'this happened after school' variety, Hope's Peak and Hope Valley went almost completely unmentioned. Though it still remained completely theoretical for me, I started to understand what things might have been like between us, before anything happened. If our teenage selves were even slightly similar to the people we were now, then it was easy to see why we had been drawn together.

But then, of course, it changed.

"Those crepes…..the stall we got it from, it was quite a 'risk' for us to get it from there. " Rei said about one photo. I was in the middle of munching some garlic bread, so I couldn't ask her to clarify, but she went on to do it anyway.

"For one thing, it was nearby, anyone from either of our schools could be there at any given time. But also, it was one of the last places Inoue-san was last seen alive, buying a double chocolate crepe…."

 _Oh. Well._

"How do you know the flavour?" I asked when I had swallowed a bit.

Rei simply gestured to the box, which had other things. I noticed that those things were newspaper articles, some cut out from papers, others clearly printed out from the internet. There seemed to be something else underneath, that looked like…. _socks_? I blinked but decided it didn't matter for now.

"Did we know that? At the time, when we went there ourselves?" I asked.

"No, no, but after her murder, I….I could never quite look at it in the same way again. I didn't exactly avoid it, as such, but I guess it didn't help. My feelings about things." Rei picked up a cheese bite, and started to nibble at it

"Things?" I echoed.

"Look," Rei said after a few moments, fire lighting in her eyes suddenly. "I know you didn't want to talk about Hope's Peak or Hope Valley or anything, but the thing is, we have to. You want answers, right? Then you have to listen. "

"I-I know that!" I stuttered, taken aback. Rei's fire dulled slightly, and she shook her head as she put down her cheese bite.

"Ah, you were always like this, it was half the trouble. You didn't _care_ , about the hierarchy, about the fact that you were SHSL and I wasn't, about the tensions between our schools. You didn't think it mattered, you just lived your life and to hell with school politics. I mean, even the whole thing of hiding our relationship, it was because you were like me, you thought it was exciting, thrilling. 'Very Romeo and Juliet, but hopefully without the double suicide and communication failures, yeah?' you said to me once. "

I tilted my head.

"Wouldn't that have been a…good thing?"

"In some ways, yes," Rei gave a one-shouldered shrug. "But in other ways, it wasn't. Because you didn't _care_. You didn't _get_ it, couldn't see why it would matter. And that came off as just so, so arrogant to me. Like, of course you could afford to think like that and just swan around easy as you please-you had so much privilege, and you had full advantage of it too, and you just couldn't _see_. Meanwhile, my world was closing in around me."

"I….." I opened my mouth, closed it again, then tried again. "I was that bad?"

Rei shook her head and sighed sadly.

"No, not really. I mean, you were oblivious at times, and you could be so inconsiderate sometimes, but most of that, that was how I felt at the time. I...I couldn't help it. Not really, not entirely."

"Not entirely?"

"I, well, you know. I was young. Idealistic." Rei shrugged.

 _I was young too. And we're still young, even though it doesn't feel like it. And didn't you say that you'd tell me anything, anything I wanted to know?_ But I wasn't entirely sure what I should be pressing at to get whatever the answer was. Instead, I grabbed the menu and waved it at her.

"So…..what about food?"

"Sure, alright."

We discussed food for a while-I decided that to be simple, I would go with spaghetti Bolognese, while Rei decided that she wanted to try some pasta dish that seemed infinitely more complicated but sounded pretty good anyway. I wondered if it would be acceptable to suggest we each taste a little bit of each other's meals, once they came. It seemed like something that would only be more appropriate with someone you were close to.

 _But we were, once, weren't we?_

I shook the thought away, picked up another photo, and asked her about it, and we pretended our way through a few more photographs until the waiter came back to take away our starter plate and get our main meal orders. Then, Rei busily cleared the photographs away to make space for our plates.

"By the way, why are there socks in there?" I asked, pointing just as she was about to close the box. Rei paused and looked at them, as if she'd forgotten, and then laughed softly to herself.

"Oh, these. You bought them for me." She laughed, pulling them out. I noticed instantly that they looked a lot like socks I used to wear, with cartoon planets all over them.

"It was so we'd match, wherever we were." She said softly.

A moment went past where I didn't say anything. I wasn't sure what to say. But another moment passed, and I realised she was looking straight at me. Waiting. So I just nodded, not sure what else to do. She folded them and tucked them back in, before closing the box, tying up the ribbon, and then slipping it back into her bag.

"I was so prepared to throw everything away, you know. After breaking up with you. But like I said, it wasn't even that long after that Mum said we were moving, and then I was busy with the packing. The photos, they were all mixed up with other ones from other occasions and I'd never got around to sorting them out, even when we were together. The socks….I was all too ready to take the socks, but Mum did some of the clothes packing for me while I was at school, to hurry things along, and I literally had _no_ idea about it until we were all the way over there."

"And yet, you still have them."

It was just a statement, just an observation, but it made Rei's face crease up.

"I regretted it, alright?" she fired. "The moment I got off the plane, I regretted it. I regretted stomping on your heart so wickedly and abandoning you at the festival, I regretted letting our schools matter so much, I regretted ever agr-"

At this, Rei stopped herself, visibly biting down on her words.

"Rei?"

She shook her head at this.

"No, no, it's nothing."

 _No, it's everything._ She looked at me again, waiting for something. Perhaps for me to reassure her that I was alright, that I forgave her. To accept her regret. And I did. By now, I knew I did, more or less.

 _But not in the way she wants, right?_

I sighed.

"Say, do you want to go for a walk after this? After eating?"

"I….if you'd like. Where to?"

"I honestly have no idea? Just around, I guess?"

Rei considered this for a moment, and then smiled.

"Okay, sure. You sure you don't want dessert though?"

"Nah, it's fine."

"Well, if you say so."

…

As we walked around the city, I noticed that though we were walking side by side with ease, there was still distance. Rei kept giving me looks, and I noticed her fingers twitch slightly, as if they were searching for something to curl around. Or, specifically, a hand to hold. I knew the signals, but I pretended not to as continued to amble.

As we did so, I recognised some of the places from the photographs, others I knew from the places I'd gone by with my friends over the past few days. The familiarity was a step down from memory, and it made me ache. I wished I remembered the days when I ambled these streets as a seventeen year old full of hope and romance. I supposed this was the closest I'd ever come to memory, though.

"Did we ever wander around, just like this?" I asked Rei.

"I guess so. Sort of. Mostly when we were further away from where our classmates might have recognised us, and in places like parks and shopping malls rather than the street. I never walked you home after an afternoon together, for example. Ironically, it was the day we broke up that we were possibly the most 'public' together. It was the school festival."

"…..I see." I raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing. That is pretty ironic though."

"Oh. Okay." Rei shrugged. "Mind if I ask you a couple of questions now?"

 _Ehhhhh….meh, maybe it'll give me time to think about what else I want to know? What do I want to know?_ I'd definitely learnt a lot, but yet at the same time I was still lost. _Where does this leave us?_

"I…I suppose so?" I said. "About what?"

"What have you been doing with your friends? The ones who survived with you?"

"Catching up?" I shrugged. "Talking, relaxing, just going places and hanging out. Visiting graves."

I decided not to mention the paintings thing. I wasn't sure why, but I didn't feel like explaining it to her. I didn't think that it mattered to what we were doing right now, where we'd be going after this.

"Oh. Oh, I see. How are they, your friends?"

"They're fine, they're all fine." I regarded her. "Did you know them?"

"I never met or interacted with any of them, if that's what you mean. But I certainly knew of a few of them anyway, and then you'd drop names here and there when you told me stories about your school life-I mean, I did something similar talking to you about my own friends and classmates, though in my case it was hardly name-dropping. But, yeah. I was a fan of Heero's music, actually. Learning that he had killed was a shock to the system."

"Yeah, indeed." I echoed quietly. _Huh, so she was a fan? That's…surprising. No, wait, why is it surprising?_

"I was so worried, each time another episode was shown, that it would be you as the victim, or even the murderer, you know?" Rei continued, apparently not noticing that I was mildly discombobulated at how she'd admitted to being a fan of Kimihiro's.

"You…you watched?"

"Every single episode, every time. I was glued to the TV. I…." Rei shook her head, wiped her eyes. _Wait, when were you crying?_

"I just had to know, that nothing would happen to you. I was so pleased, you know, when it ended and you were rescued."

I feel warm at this admission, of all the things that Rei has said and shown to me that proved the strength of her feelings, this was it. The thing that I could connect to, really connect to. Sure, I knew that everything else had happened, I could see how it might have been, and yet….I looked at Rei, and I saw my mother and my sister, the day I was sent home, overflowing in tears. They, too, had been glued to the TV, waiting for the worst but hoping for the best.

 _But…._

"How come you didn't try to contact me earlier?" I asked. "Once it was all over."

Rei shook her head firmly at that.

"I didn't want to hurt you any more than I already had. Even when I learnt you wouldn't have remembered it anyway, perhaps I could have tried, but….that would have been worse, somehow, right?"

"And yet we're here now."

"Yeah…" Rei trailed off into a silence, and we walked a few more steps before I realised that we were once again walking past somewhere familiar. And then when we came up to it, I realised.

 _The Wishing Tree Memorial._

We came to a stop right in front of it, in front of the plaque that was hanging off of the rope barrier. Rei gave me a sideways glance, and I could see her fingers moving slightly again as she considered stepping a little closer to me. I didn't move away, but I kept my hands close to my side, and again pretended I hadn't noticed.

But it felt unfair this time.

We'd been together, once, and hadn't she said that she regretted ever ending it? And hadn't she genuinely been sorry for what I went through? She was definitely still attractive, I liked her, and tonight had mostly been fun. _Yet…Still…_

"We came by here, the other day. I searched for your name on this. I only had your first name on this, but I searched."

"You…." Rei stopped, blinked, gawped at me. "You did?"

"Yeah. " I shrugged, trying to act as if it wasn't much effort. "Yeah. I'm glad you're alive, too."

"Thank you." Rei smiled at me. "That…that's sweet. I'm glad, somehow. You don't even remember caring about me, and yet you continued doing so anyway. Thank you. And….I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

"It's alright." I said, meaning it. "It's alright."

"I…really?" Rei asked, eyes wide with hope. I nodded, feeling like I was deceiving her, even though I was telling the truth.

"Well, it happened, didn't it? We just have to move forward, right?" I grinned, before suddenly letting out a massive yawn.

"Oh! Are you tired?" Rei asked.

"Y-yeah, it seems like it." I sighed. "I suppose I better go back now."

"Oh, okay. Do you want me to walk you home?"

"Nah, it's fine, it's fine." I said, already starting to move ahead. "Thanks for tonight, it…it's made a lot of things make sense to me."

"That's alright." Rei replied, standing where she was, though she looked so much like she wanted to follow. I wondered if I should change my mind, extend one more kindness, but I did not. I could not.

"So….perhaps we'll meet up again?"

"Yeah, sure."

And I wondered if she realised what I had already decided to do-to let time prove this a lie.

…

When I got to our road, I sent a message on the group chat to announce that I was near. Almost immediately, Wakana replied with a smiley face and a thumbs-up emoji. I grinned at that, and tucked my phone away again, and slowed my walk, looking up at the stars. Mentally, I labelled each constellation I could see, the different stars within each of them. _I wish I could share these with someone._ If I had responded differently to Rei, if I had decided that I wanted what she wanted, then perhaps I could be sharing them with her. After all, it was likely that I had done so before.

But that, right there, was the problem: All that had gone before.

A shared history was one thing, but ours had been shared out unevenly between us. I was essentially judging her from a clean slate, she would always be evaluating me with things that were beyond my reach. And as she had mentioned so often, we were seventeen. Neither of us were seventeen anymore, neither of us were the same person we had been back then. Whatever had connected us before didn't exist anymore. There was no point trying to find it.

 _Sorry, Rei._

I sped up again, and just as I got to the door, it opened, and Wakana stood there, smiling.

"I'm back." I announced.

"Welcome back." Wakana smiled back, closing and locking the door as I stepped inside and took my shoes off. I noticed Tyson standing somewhat behind Wakana, near to the kitchen entrance, a half-full glass of milk in his hand.

"Did you have a good time, Ma'am?" he asked.

"Yeah, it was fine." I replied airily. "So, did you guys miss me?"

"Sure, but we were fine too. Are you sure you're okay?" Wakana asked.

I blinked at her for a moment, but she just waited patiently, a kind look on her face. _Is it that obvious?_ I shrugged, about to give a flippant answer, but then I paused, and thought. _It is a little sad, but…_

"I'm fine, really."

And _this_ was something that time would prove to be the truth.

* * *

 **I never really imagined a different outcome for Hokuto and Rei. Maybe different ways of getting to the same outcome, but not a different outcome. Like Hokuto puts it, they might have a shared history, but it's been shared unevenly between them. I don't think that's something they could easily reconcile, especially considering the circumstances of their past relationship. Speaking of which, one of the future Scraps of the Past chapters will be from teenage Rei's POV. In any case, I decided to end their sub-arc (I could call it a mini-arc, but sub-arc feels more apt here) in this specific way-more melancholy than melodrama. I'd be interested to know what you were expecting-a different outcome, or a similar one with a different path to it, or whatever?**

 **Anyway, as always, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always, please leave feedback :) !**


	28. Wish to Change

_Noriko_

I was on my phone when Hokuto came into the room.

"Oh, hey, you're still awake?" Hokuto asked.

"Yeah. Chiko's suffering from writer's block and wants me to know." I said, half-yawning. As Hokuto took off her jacket and bag and grabbed her pyjamas, she raised an eyebrow at me.

"Turn the phone off? Ignore her?"

"I probably _will_ turn it off in a minute, but to be honest, it's not much different to if I was at home-I can hardly turn off a human being, can I?"

To demonstrate, I turned my phone around to show her some of the stream of texts that Sachiko had sent, all of them variations on 'wut r words & y?!', with the occasional emoji-laden rant. I hadn't replied to most of them, but instead had sent a couple of emojis back as a response.

"Hah! The peril of roommates, huh?" Hokuto laughed after a moment of squinting at the screen.

"Yep. Wouldn't have it any other way though." I agreed.

"Exactly. See you in a bit, I'm gonna get ready for bed."

"Alright."

When she left, I was about to follow her advice and just switch the phone off, but something made me quickly look at it once more. In the small amount of time since Hokuto had come up Sachiko had sent me five more messages that were just a mess of letters, and I sighed, shaking my head.

 _Holy hell, just go to bed and come back to this fresh,_ I typed. _I want to sleep too, you know._

Once I had sent it, I scrolled back up, past the stream of writers-block-frustration and emojis, to a small part when the conversation had been halfway intelligent, and read it again.

 _Okay, so what part are you working on?_ I had asked.

 _I've just got to Usami-san's death, or rather the moments before it. I've written everything that happened leading up to you getting trapped as far as you understood it all back then and now I've just sort of hit a block,_ she had replied.

To that, I had simply inquired: How so?

 _Ahhhhhh I don't know. For some reason I keep trying to write this as if it's a mystery novel or something, even though it's meant to be a straight retelling._

 _Well…..I guess both are true, in a way. You know how things were in there._

 _Yeah yeah yeah, it's still weird writing it,_ Sachiko retorted to this. I, of course, also had a retort ready:

 _Coming from the person who said writing this story would be easy._

 _I said that?_ That text, I'd found myself mentally hearing in Sachiko's voice, which had made it incredibly funny for just three words and three question marks.

 _Yes, you did._

 _IF ANYONE ASKS I NEVER SAID THAT!_ Sachiko had text-yelled almost immediately afterwards.

 _Sure, sure._ I had said, putting a little smiley face next to it. Afterwards, she hadn't sent anything for a few minutes, and I'd found myself lying there, staring at the ceiling, thinking about that first murder.

" _This is probably completely off-base, but what this isn't actually a locked room mystery?" Koutarou spoke up suddenly, interrupting the debate that had mostly been dominated by Kanekatsu, Akira and Erica._

" _Why would you say that?" Hibiki asked, confusion furrowing her bow._

" _Yeah," I agreed. "She clearly died in her room."_

" _Unless you think she wasn't?" Kimihiro asked. "She was kind of lying there awkwardly, maybe she was carried there or something?"_

" _Again, that's also been established as not being the case." Kanekatsu corrected. "But I suspect that's not what Ueda-kun means, am I correct."_

" _Yeah." Koutarou nodded._

" _Ah, come on! If you've got a theory, spit it out!" Erica encouraged._

" _You're way too cheery for the situation." Masashi muttered at her, pulling a slightly annoyed face._

" _I suspect we're veering away from the original point." Tyson said._

" _It's alright, let Ueda-kun tell us his theory, and then depending on what he says we can decide what route to take." Daisuke intervened._

 _Koutarou, for his part, didn't appear to notice the small spat, instead thinking carefully_

" _She died in her room but….I don't think she was killed in there. " Koutarou said, each word slow. "That is-"_

" _Psh, that makes even less sense!" Hideki scoffed._

" _Says the person who hasn't said anything vaguely useful since we got here!" Masashi retorted sharply._

" _Everyone, please focus!" Kanekatsu commanded, voice still fairly even. "I suspect you were going to say that the killing blow wasn't applied to Usami-san in her bedroom, am I right?"_

 _Koutarou simply nodded at that._

" _But how would that work?" I wondered. "And actually, if not her room, then where?"_

" _I can't say where, at least not yet." Kanekatsu answered. "But I suspect I know how that could have been made possible."_

" _Yeah? How so?" Hokuto asked._

" _Oh, I got it!" Erica cried out. "Come on guys, it makes perfect sense! What were the three of us just going on about?!"_

 _I had to rack my brain for a moment, but then I realised what she was talking about._

I let out a breath. I was glad that Sachiko hadn't asked me to tell her more about that case in this conversation. Of course, I'd told her everything over the years, in fits and starts, the best way I could. And I'd helped her fill out her notes when she was making plans for the book. But still, of all the cases, that one was the hardest to think about.

Because the place Shiro had been killed, it was in front of me. And even worse, though I had been looking right at her, and was right next to her, I hadn't even realised that was what was happening.

 _Stop. Stop thinking about it._ Sachiko had written a reply, but I didn't even look at it. Instead, without even exiting the message screen, I turned off my phone, placed it on the bedside table and lay back down, pulling the quilt over myself and closing my eyes tight, willing myself to fall asleep.

 **…**

 _Masashi_

As I was about to go back downstairs again, I decided to pop into Akira's room to tell him that we were going. Poking my head around the door, I saw Akira was on the phone, just as I expected him to be.

"Hmm, okay, thanks, sempai. I won't disturb you any longer. Bye." He said before hanging up and turning around to see me.

"Oh, Masa-san."

"Yo, Just came to say that we're leaving to go to the park-me, Akamine-tan, Shizuka-tan, that is." I clarified.

"Ah, alright."

There was a moment of awkward silence in which Akira looked like he was guilty of something. But before I could ask what was eating him, he ended up blurting it out.

"I phoned Munakata-sempai."

 _Okay, not what I was expecting._

"Huh? When?"

"After I finished sorting out my colleague." He said, referring to the phone call he'd originally come up here to deal with almost straight after breakfast, when a junior colleague from his workplace had phoned him in a panic about… _something_. I wasn't particularly bothered about the details-why would I be, I didn't work in sales, after all.

"Oh, okay. About what?"

"About the possibility of us visiting Yukizome-sensei later this holiday."

"Oh. Right."

 _She did not look like she was sitting on the chair so much as she had been placed there and strapped in place. Her own legs were tied to the chair legs, her arms tied behind her, and more ropes tied around her body, securing her to the chair. Her head was lowered, her hair escaping from its usual ponytail, limp and stringy as it half-obscured her face-but I could still see that she was gagged. The apron she wore over her blue suit was ripped, and there were cuts and bruises all over her body. It looked like something out of a movie, something happening to a stranger, an actor, something and someone pretend. But it wasn't._

"I'm not going to force us, I was just asking if it would be possible." Akira babbled.

"That's…fine?" I was confused. "Why don't we all gather together and talk about it after I come back from the park?"

Akira blinked at me.

"Ah, yes. That makes sense. Sorry, I think I was overthinking."

"Eh, can't blame you for that." I shrugged. "Anyway, I'd better be going."

"Alright then."

 **…**

Once we got to the park, Shizuka seemed pretty happy to just rush off, heading straight for the swings, and so Chieko and I went to look for a bench we could sit on and watch her from, and sat down on it.

 _So….what do I say now?_

In silence, we watched Shizuka swinging for a few moments. She quickly got bored of the swing and went straight to a climbing frame which was occupied by a few other elementary-school-aged children, all of whom seemed to be alone. This seemed to have caught Chieko's attention too, because I noticed her expression change to something unreadable.

"Do you think I should have let her come on her own?" she asked, not looking at me.

"If we were in your town, then I'd probably say yes. But even you didn't know where this place was, so how would she? I think it's okay."

"Hmmm…"

"Really, it's not a big deal." I reiterated. I thought, and then shrugged. "On the other hand, I wouldn't know."

"I guess. I mean, you're right, I do let her go out on her own to play with her friends back at home, but…I don't know. I'm just wondering if I'm wary because we're in an unfamiliar place, or if I'm being wary because it's this city."

She turned to look at me, and for a moment I lost my ability to form words.

"Ah." I eventually managed to say. "Well…."

Given that I lived here, it was kind of hard to give her an answer. But I thought I knew what she meant. I'd sometimes wondered if I should have moved away to a different city to try and rebuild my life. On the other hand, it had seemed like too much work. And besides, I was still hoping that Hikari would turn up one day.

"Sorry, that was a weird thing to say." Chieko apologised.

"No, no, not at all." I replied. Chieko smiled at me, and nodded.

"Thanks."

"Psh, what are you thanking me for?" I mock-huffed to hide my sudden embarrassment.

We returned to watching Shizuka, who seemed to be in conversation with two little girls-one roughly her age, the other older, a slight resemblance between the two of them suggesting some sort of relationship. Sisters, most likely. It was the younger sister doing the most talking, and soon enough they dashed across the playground to the see-saw, Shizuka taking one seat, the younger sister taking the other. The older sister climbed onto the middle, crossing her legs and gripping onto the edge as her sister and Shizuka used their legs to get the see-saw going.

"It's like me, Koutarou and Onee-Chan." Chieko murmured.

"Me and my sibs preferred the roundabout, ourselves. There's a different park, nearer to the house we lived in back then, it had this huge one we always had to fight to use. But we used to have great fun getting as dizzy as we possibly could as quickly as we could." I replied, thinking about those distant days.

Chieko regarded me.

"Yeah? That sounds like something I'd have attempted to try-getting as dizzy as possible. Don't think I could have persuaded my sister out for that one, though. Only Koutarou. But that in itself would have been fine by me. Most of the time it just was me and Koutarou when we went out."

"I thought you got in with your sister?"

"Sure, she was-and still is-a great deal more indoorsy than I was." She explained.

"Ohh, right, I see. Eh, well, we spent as much time in front of the TV as we did in the playground trying to get ourselves dizzy-at least until we started getting older and stuff."

And of course, once I had started seriously training in soccer. Of course, there was no need to mention that-what was the point? What had it led to, in the end, that so-called talent of mine? It would have been better to have just remained like any other kid, watching the games on TV and kicking a ball around with my mates every so often. To have grown up ordinary, Hope's Peak so far off my radar that I wouldn't have even heard of it. That would have been better. That was what should have happened.

"Yeah, that's the way of it, isn't it? Growing up changes things." Chieko mused.

"Yeah, it does. It sucks."

To my surprise, Chieko laughed at this.

"Yes, yes it does." She sobered, and looked back over at Shizuka, happy with her two new friends. When she spoke again, her voice was so quiet that I had to strain to hear her.

"This isn't the life I pictured for myself back then. But, how can I ever wish to change it?"

"Mmmm." Again, words failed me.

I knew what she meant, but at the same time, I didn't. How could I _possibly_ know what she meant? _Yet…._ The reason she couldn't ever wish to change her life, couldn't wish that it had turned out differently, it was what made her who she was now. The person I loved now.

How could _I_ wish to change that?

Something made me turn at that moment, and I realised that Shizuka was coming over to us, the two sisters following her. Chieko noticed too.

"Are you alright Shizuka?" she asked.

"Mummy, can I go and play at Renge-Chan and Tsubaki-Chan's house?" she blurted out.

"I….erm, are you two Renge-Chan and Tsubaki-Chan?" Chieko looked at the two girls.

"Yep. I'm Renge Higuchi, that's my little sister Tsubaki!" the older one declared. "Can Shizuka-Chan come to play with us?"

"Is your house far from here? Will your family mind?"

"Mama won't mind!" the younger one-Tsubaki-exclaimed.

"We live just there." Renge pointed to the street across the park, in the opposite direction to where we had come from. "And our friends come to play all the time, so Tsubaki's right, Mama won't mind!"

"Please, Mummy?" Shizuka blinked up, wide-eyed. "Please?"

"I'm not sure, sweetheart…" Chieko hesitated.

"Are you Shizuka-Chan's Papa?" Tsubaki suddenly asked me. _Gahhh!_ Before I could formulate a response, Shizuka stepped in.

"No, silly, that's Masa-san, he's our friend!"

"You have a friend who's a _grownup_?" Tsubaki frowned at this for a moment, then lit up. "Wow, that's cool!"

"I know, right?" Shizuka agreed earnestly, making me feel unexpectedly warm and fuzzy. _Eee, she thinks I'm cool….wait, no, Masa-san, get ahold of yourself!_

"Oh, that's it!" Renge burst out suddenly. We all stared at her, confused.

"What's it, Nee-Chan?" Tsubaki asked.

"Shizuka-Chan's mama can come and make friends with our mama, while we go and play."

"Uh…." Chieko gave me a slightly alarmed look, and I startled. I wasn't sure what would even be the correct protocol here, after all. I'd probably be chill if I had kids and they brought friends home, but then again I wasn't a parent, so what would I know? _On the other hand, I would like to know, some day._ In the end, I just shrugged and pulled a face.

"Well, you're no help." She muttered, sounding a little like the girl she used to be, before she let out a sigh and considered things for a moment. The three little girls stared at her expectantly, and I sat there feeling strange, wondering what input I could or should offer.

"Okay," she eventually decided. "Okay, we'll go, and check with Renge-Chan and Tsubaki-Chan's mother to see if she's alright with you coming over to play. If not, then we'll have to find something else to do."

"Yay!"

* * *

 **I have no idea how I managed to get this chapter out.**

 **I just had this really weird case of sort-of-writers-block-but-not-exactly. Kind of like the chapter got stuck somewhere between my imagination and my fingers, and all my fingers want to type are events that are literally chapters away, as well as other random completely unrelated stuff. I mean, perhaps I could've written ahead but when you don't know how long a chapter is going to be it's hard to number chapters ahead. The normal chapters, that is. The special chapters are no problem to write ahead, as they're kinda discrete/standalone so I can just bung it out, assign a chapter number to it, then leave it until it's time to put it up/make final edits before putting it up. Normal chapters, on the other hand, are a different and wilder beast. So yeah. It was a real battle writing this. Ironically, that helped me in fleshing out Noriko's text conversation with Sachiko and that scene in general, since pre-sort-of-block, the conversation was purely 'what part of the book are you at' , and Noriko having the flashback and so there wasn't much to it.**

 **Speaking of the flashback, that was important because I realised that Shiro's death is the one that's been the least focussed on in the fic so far, meaning that I needed to give some more information about it. I'm interested to see what speculations you have about the circumstances based on this chapter's flashback and whatever other (woefully scant) information I've given so far.**

 **I was going to include the scene where Chieko meets the Higuchi sisters' mum in this chapter, but that scene was also struggling, so it will be the first part of the next chapter-speaking of which, that will probably take a bit longer to come out, as I'm going to take a short break from working on this fic over the weekend, and only start writing the next chapter next week. Anyway, what I was originally saying was the Higuchis aren't just random, they'll have a role in the story, although it'll be a background role, and after the scene of next chapter, they'll probably be mentioned more often than they make actual appearances, if that makes sense.**

 **On a random side note, I kinda wish there were more open SYOCs around at the moment. I know this fandom has so many, most of which never get off the ground, but I think SYOCs are great anyway (well, duh, of course I do, that's why this exists), and I do like coming up with characters and sending them in. I have a couple of characters that are just floating around in my imagination with nowhere to go and you can imagine that's not really helping my messy mind right now. So, well, if you see an SYOC open up, or you ever decide to start one yourself, let me know so I can go check it out =D**

 **So anyway, yeah, though this chapter was tricky, I hope you enjoy it anyway! I will do my best to make the next chapter better!**


	29. I Needed That Too

**A day later than usual isn't too bad =D I feel pleased with myself. Anyway, on with the chapter.**

* * *

"Mama! We brought a friend to play!" Renge called out as soon as she opened the door and we stepped into the house. She and her sister slipped off their shoes, and Shizuka went to do the same.

"Shizuka, wait a moment." I told her, remaining by the door. She frowned at me, but did as I asked.

"Mama, come to meet her!" Tsubaki yelled up excitedly.

"Hold on a moment, I'm changing Ayame!" a woman's voice called from up the stairs.

"Okay, but be quick!" Tsubaki replied. Renge pulled an annoyed face and then looked over at us.

"Ayame's our other sister. She's just a baby." She explained. _So, they're all flowers,_ I noted to myself as I nodded at her.

We waited a few moments, Shizuka bouncing in excitement, Renge and Tsubaki staring up the stairs in anticipation, and Masashi and I just standing there. Eventually though, we could hear the sounds of someone leaving a room upstairs, and sure enough, a few moments later a woman carrying a baby appeared, and started to make her way down the stairs. She looked about thirty, tall and thin with straight dark hair twisted up into a haphazard bun. She was dressed in a striped, somewhat faded looking t-shirt and a red skirt. Her eyes were the same shade of violet as Renge's, and overall her face was angular and serious. Yet, there seemed to be something…familiar about her. Not in the sense of having seen her before someplace else, but all the same, I got a sense of something that I could only call familiarity.

"Which friend is it?" she asked her two older daughters before she glanced over and looked at us. She blinked, eyes widening slightly.

"Oh, hello. I don't think we've met before."

"Ah…sorry for intruding. My daughter met yours at the park, and they sort of invited her over. "I apologised, deciding not to dwell on this strange familiarity.

"Ah, yep. That sounds like them." She smiled at her daughters, the expression softening her features.

"Mama, tell Shizuka-Chan's Mama that they can stay!" Tsubaki said.

"Ah, your name's Shizuka, is it?" their mother asked. Shizuka blushed, but nodded to confirm this.

"Good to meet you, Shizuka-Chan." The woman said. "Do you want to go and play upstairs with Renge and Tsubaki?"

"Yes please." Shizuka nodded, before looking to me. I sighed, but then smiled and nodded.

"Go ahead."

Shizuka beamed, and pulled off her shoes, dropping them next to Renge's. Just at that moment, the baby-Ayame- let out a long stream of babbly syllables and stretched her arms out towards her sisters.

"Renge, take Ayame with you, please." Their mother sighed, bending down to let Ayame down. Renge grinned and held her arms out to her youngest sister, who toddled right over and allowed herself to be carried.

"C'mon, let's go!" Renge commanded Tsubaki and Shizuka. And soon enough, they had all disappeared upstairs, the sounds of laughter drifting down moments later.

"Well," their mother said, turning to us. "I don't think I introduced myself, sorry. I'm Sakura Higuchi, it's good to meet you."

"Chieko Akamine, Shizuka's mother. Pleased to meet you as well."

"I'm Masashi Kita. I'm a friend of the family." Masashi spoke up afterwards. "I went to the same high-school as Akamine-tan."

 _Friend of the family, huh?_ I considered this, and decided it was correct. After all, Shizuka had described him as a friend to Renge and Tsubaki. Sakura frowned as she regarded Masashi.

"Your face seems familiar, actually." She stated after a moment. "Do you live near here?"

"Yes, I am local." Masashi replied.

"Hmm…oh, no, wait, I know. You drive buses, don't you?" Sakura realised eventually. Masashi spluttered, but managed to remain fairly composed as he nodded.

"Yes, that's right."

"Right. I'll remember you next time. But anyway, what are we doing here? Come, let's go to the kitchen and talk."

"Ah, we didn't want to intru-"before I could finish, Sakura waved off my concerns.

"It's no intrusion, I'm at home all day anyway. Now, come."

With that, she turned and headed to what I presumed was the kitchen. I exchanged a look with Masashi, and then we followed her.

"Do you want anything to drink at all? Tea, juice, water?" Sakura asked as we sat down at the large kitchen table, set with four normal chairs and one high chair.

"No, I'm alright for now." I said.

"Juice would be good-I'm cool with whatever." Masashi replied.

"Alright."

Sakura took a carton from her fridge and went to pour Masashi his juice, and I found myself staring at the fridge door. It was covered in colourful magnets that were being used to hold up childish crayon drawings and family photographs. One was of a man about Sakura's age, and it seemed clear he was the girls' father-his eyes were the same sky blue as Tsubaki's, and though his hair was a different, much lighter colour to the two older girls own, they had inherited its' curliness. And of course, he appeared in many of the other pictures. But the solo picture I had specifically noticed had been placed fairly carefully in the middle of the fridge, and I wondered why. Where he was.

"Is something wrong?" Masashi whispered in my ear. I turned and shook my head slightly.

"Just looking."

Sakura came over with the glass and set it down in front of Masashi. She gave me a look, as if indicating she had noticed me staring at the fridge, but she didn't seem particularly annoyed, or defensive about it. Indeed, she seemed pretty relaxed about us randomly pitching up on her doorstep, and almost pleased to have the company. She went to a cupboard near the fridge and pulled out a biscuit tin and a few saucers, and returned to the table, putting these things down in the middle, and then sitting down on the chair opposite us, next to the high chair.

"Help yourselves." She said simply, pointing to the biscuits. We both thanked her, and then, after a small awkward pause, we-or rather, Sakura and I- attempted to make small talk. I explained that I had come from Yokohama, that I hadn't visited Towa in a long time, and that it was Shizuka's first time in the town, which seemed to interest her, as she'd apparently spent her entire life in Towa. She mentioned that she was a high school maths teacher, and I told her that I was studying to become an elementary school teacher, though not for any particular subject. We talked a little about the children, too. It turned out that Tsubaki was also a first-grader like Shizuka, Renge was 10 (the same age as Shunsuke, I observed), but younger as she was still in fourth grade, and little Ayame was 15 months old. It was all very neutral, stilted, but not necessarily uncomfortable, as such, most probably because of this sense of familiarity I was feeling. Which niggled at me- _what is it? Why?_

After a while, there was a pause that stretched out. I looked at Sakura, then away at the fridge again, before eventually snagging a saucer and taking a biscuit. But rather than eat the biscuit straight away, I put it down on the saucer, and waited.

"This is probably a bit forward, considering we just met, but may I ask you a question?" Sakura asked eventually.

"A question?" I echoed dumbly. Sakura nodded.

"Yes. Well, actually, it's more than one question…"

"Go on…." I encouraged warily, confused and curious.

Sakura looked at me, then glanced at Masashi, who had been silent throughout our conversation so far. I felt a little sorry for him, he was probably feeling left out and out of his depth. Eventually, Sakura closed her eyes and let out a breath, before meeting my gaze head-on.

"Are you _that_ Chieko Akamine? And that Masashi Kita, for that matter?"

 _Eh?_

It was a simple question, with a very simple answer. After all, there wasn't anything else the two of us could be well known for. But I couldn't open my mouth to form the answer. _Help._

"What does it matter to you?" Masashi retorted brusquely. Sakura winced.

"You're right, it isn't any of my business. It's just curiosity. You see, my brother-in-law, he's a policeman, and back when…when everything was happening, he was put into a department that liaised with the Future Foundation. Every day, going right into the thick of the riots and….well, it's a very personal curiosity, but all the same."

"I….is he alright? Your brother-in-law?" I murmured, finally remembering how to speak. Sakura gawped at me for a second.

"Yes, he is. He moved to the other side of the country though, so I'm not sure exactly how he is. But generally speaking."

"Well, to answer your personal curiosity, _yes_." Masashi spat. "We'd rather not answer any more of your questions if they're going to be like this."

 _Kita-kun…._

"No, that's fine. I wasn't going to ask anything else about what happened there. Though….I'm sorry, so sorry, that you had to go through all that. "

"I…."

"It's appreciated." Masashi muttered, a little calmer. Determinedly, he grabbed a few biscuits, and started to eat one.

"You okay, Akamine-tan?" he asked me after a mouthful. I managed a smile, appreciative of the check-in.

"I am, thanks."

Sakura watched us carefully, in particular regarding me with a similar look to when she'd recognised Masashi as a bus driver. I wondered what new conclusions she was drawing about us.

"Akamine-san, may I ask my other question?" the words were a lot softer this time, so much so that I almost didn't hear her. I nodded hesitantly.

"How…how do you do it? Looking after Shizuka-Chan alone?"

"I…." _How do I answer this one?_ "I just do it, I suppose. It's always been this way. But I do have family around me. We live with my father, Shizuka's grandmother is next door, my own grandma and my older sister help out when they can too. I've got a family friend on the other side of town who helps out a great deal as well. "

"No magic answer, huh?" Sakura laughed softly, bitterly. Again, the sense of familiarity. I looked over at the photographs on the fridge, and just as I imagined Sakura was making deductions about me based on what little she knew, I was making my own, and starting to clue into why that might be.

"No, there isn't. If there is, I'm still looking for it, in all truth and honesty. And, you know, it is hard. Even with the help."

Sakura nodded, pursing her lips, her eyes shining slightly. Masashi elbowed me softly and pulled a what's-going-on face at me when I looked over. I shook my head at him, then looked back at Sakura.

 _From the way the two Future Foundation members- Munakata and Saka-something, I thought-were looking at me every so often, I knew what the doctor was telling them about me. Staring down at my still-flat stomach, I could understand why they seemed so disbelieving. I wondered, though, what they were thinking._

" _So, we'll send someone here, instead." Saka-something's voice was suddenly audible. "Right, Munakata?"_

" _Yes, that makes sense. See if you can find-"at this point, they became inaudible again as they walked away, and the doctor came back in._

" _They're aware of your condition, but they will still have to question you about what happened in there, so they're going to send someone else over to do that."_

" _Hmmm." I nodded, and looked down at my hands. The doctor shuffled and eventually took a seat in the corner of the room. I wondered why, but couldn't find the energy to question it. Instead, I leaned back against the pillows, getting comfortable again, and stared out of the window._

 _I could feel the time pass sluggishly, lazily, but I had no sense of how much, and couldn't be bothered to look at the clock, but eventually, there was a knock on the door. The doctor went to answer it, and I heard a high, light feminine voice, occasionally joined by a deep and quiet male voice. Then, the owners of the two voices entered the room, and knowing it was expected of me, I turned to look at them._

" _Hello, Akamine-san." The man, who was tall and imposing in his long red coat, nodded at me, heavily outlined eyes softening ever so slightly as he grabbed a chair for himself and his companion, a pink-haired woman dressed in pink shades-her own coat had more fur around the neck than I had ever seen on an item of clothing, ever. For some reason, she was also wearing a hat indoors. When she started speaking, I noticed she referred to herself in third person._

" _Hello, Akamine-Chan-it is alright if I call you that, right? I'm Ruruka Andou, and that's Sonosuke Izayoi. We're from the Future Foundation, and so I'm pretty sure you know why we're here."_

" _Questions." I murmured. Andou beamed and nodded._

" _That's right. It's okay though, there's no pressure! We'll go at your own pace. But, first…."_

 _Andou riffled through a handbag she'd set down, and pulled out a small plastic bag filled with something colourful, which she then handed to me. I stared at it, realising that the colourful things were macarons._

" _Here, have these. I've made some for all your friends, but since I've come here, you get the first lot. Great, huh?"_

 _I managed to nod, and Ruruka grinned._

" _Alright, then. So, we'll keep it open ended today. Just tell us things-anything that you can about what happened. "_

" _Chronological order would be best, but don't push yourself too hard to be precise. " Izayoi put in at this point. I noticed that he had a notebook and a pen on his lap._

 _I stared at them both. Chronological order? Of what? And where? Hadn't we just learnt that actually, we'd somehow lost an entire year?_

" _Are you okay, Akamine-Chan? Would you prefer for someone to come back tomorrow?" Andou asked in concern._

" _What's….what's the beginning?" I whispered, strained. Andou frowned at that, and considered it for a moment._

" _Don't worry about whether the dates or anything are correct or not-there'll be other interviews, you know, so you'll get a chance to straighten out your account, such as it were. Just tell us what you remember. Maybe from…what happened in the moments before you found out you were trapped?"_

 _Andou waited, encouraging smile on her face. Izayoi's face was serious, betraying nothing, but there was something about the way he sat that, combined with how friendly Andou was, made me think that I could, and should, at least try. So I took a deep breath and…_

" _Koutarou's birthday."_

" _Ah, that's Ueda-kun, isn't it?"_

" _Hmmm. It was the morning of his birthday that day…."_

Of course, this was a completely different situation. But from where I was sitting, it seemed like now I was in Andou's position. I wondered if I could live up to it. But even if I couldn't, I had to at least try, didn't I?

"How long ago, Higuchi-san?" I asked. I didn't elaborate, and from the way Sakura looked at me, it was clear I didn't need to.

"Eighteen months ago." She whispered. I had a sense that she was going to end up saying more, so I waited.

"We were high school sweethearts, Seiji and I. Married straight out of high school-I swear, everyone thought we were mad, but we weren't. We'd thought about it properly, decided that this was what was best for us. And we were right. And we were happy. "

At that point, she stopped. There was no more she wanted to say. Or possibly, she couldn't say it, even if she wanted to. I knew how that felt, I wouldn't push it.

"Koutarou lived next door to me," I found myself saying instead. "He and his mother moved there when he was little, and I was so happy at the prospect of a new friend, I was determined to make it happen. We went to the same elementary school, middle school, high school-we were best friends…and we were happy."

"So we're the same, huh?" Sakura mused. "A couple of struggling widows."

I blinked, taken aback at the comparison.

"Oh, that's-"

"Oh, I know, it's not technically correct to call you a widow as well. But we're the same anyway, I think. Don't you?"

 _I checked my reflection to be sure that I'd buttoned my shirt up correctly, and then adjusted the neck ribbon before running a hand through my messy hair. But before I could even turn to go get my hairbrush, I saw Koutarou in the mirror, approaching me. I spun around, and he held out my hairbrush, not quite meeting my eyes. Blinking, I stared a moment, before I reached out and took it._

" _Thanks." I said, not quite able to meet his eyes, either. I turned back to the mirror, which showed that I was blushing slightly, and concentrated on combing my hair and tying it into its usual ponytail. As I did, I noticed Koutarou-in-the-reflection go back to the bed and sit on the corner, watching me quietly. I watched him in return, and eventually, when he next looked up, my eyes and his reflected ones met, and I smiled._

 _After a moment, he gave a small smile back._

"Yes." I answered.

Sakura smiled at me, and reached for a biscuit herself. There were a few moments of silence, but this time around, they did not feel so awkward.

"So, how much longer will you be around for?" Sakura asked.

"The next week." I replied. "Why?"

"Because, I'm thinking that this high school reunion you're on, there's going to be some things you're not going to want Shizuka-Chan to see or hear, am I right?"

"I…well, yes."

"If you don't think you'll be able to work around it, bring her over here. For lunch, dinner, whatever. It wouldn't be any trouble at all-I know for a fact that my girls are going to be pestering me about when she'll come again the moment you leave. And in any case, focusing on the children helps."

"Yeah, it does." I agreed. "Are you sure, though? I wouldn't want to impose."

"I'm sure. " Sakura stated, with such quiet determination that any polite protests of no-really-it's-fine wouldn't fly here. And in any case, there was no need for that.

We understood each other too well for that, now.

"Then, I'll accept that offer."

 **…**

We left soon after that, after exchanging contact details. None of the girls were too happy about it, but it was easy to appease them once we told them that they would get to play with each other another day. Indeed, as we started to walk back, Shizuka happily babbled about the games they would play the next time they met up. I half listened, and looked at Masashi, who'd been pretty quiet.

"Hey, Kita-kun, sorry about that." I said to him quietly. He startled and looked over at me.

"For what?"

"Well, we basically ignored you the entire time, which was pretty poor of me."

"Nah, I understood why." Masashi grinned, then pulled a face. "I mean, it was pretty awkward, yeah, but I understood."

"You….you did?"

"Yeah. Well, I got the general idea anyway. Besides, it's you. If anyone could do something like that, it'd be you."

"Uh….." I gawped at him. "That's not…."

"Yes, it is." Masashi said firmly. "I've seen it happen before."

 _The silence was deafening, overwhelming, and I could see an all-too-human scorn in Monobear's eyes. But I couldn't turn away. I wouldn't. I wanted to give up, turn away, go back and sleep for a million years. But something was stirring in me, and it wouldn't let me do that. And in truth, I wasn't sure I wanted to._

 _Because this needed to end. I knew that much._

" _Upupu, well…." Monobear laughed. "You surprise me, Akamine-san, really you do. This is quite the unexpected development so…alright then. Let's change things up a little."_

"That wasn't me." I sighed at Masashi. "It was chance, that she'd even listen to any of us. And it's not like I came up with the idea. I just told her we weren't doing this anymore."

"That was you!" Masashi insisted. "It was a, whaddya call it, a chain reaction. If you hadn't said any of that, if you hadn't been so unexpectedly brave like that, none of the rest would have happened. It was _you_."

Masashi's eyes were wide, bright, wild with his conviction as he stared at me. Shizuka remained oblivious to the tension as I stared back at him, stunned. _He really believes it._ I still didn't think I'd done anything special, because I hadn't. I was barely functioning by then, how could I have? _But, he believes it._ And that had to count for something, didn't it.

So I dropped my gaze slightly, and smiled at him genuinely.

"Well, thank you."

 **…**

 _Tyson_

Just as I got to the end of the chapter in the book I was reading, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I pulled it out. To my surprise, it was Haruhi Kisaragi, so I accepted the call and put the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, I'm not disturbing you guys, am I? You're not doing anything in particular as a group or anything?"

"No, no, we're all just relaxing right now."

"Perfect! There's something I'd like to tell you all…think you could gather the others and put me on loudspeaker?"

"That should be fine…give me a few moments."

I got up and left my room, and went down the stairs. I knew most of the others would probably be gathered in the living room, so I went there first.

"Yo, got bored of the book?" Masashi asked, being the first to look up from where he was sitting on the floor, drawing with Shizuka.

"No, not yet. Could I have all of your attention for a moment? Haruhi's on the phone." I held it up in demonstration.

"Haruhi-san is? Why?" Chieko asked, watching me carefully.

"I'm not sure yet." I admitted.

"Oh, I'll get Ho-Chi and Noriko-Chan from the kitchen, then." Wakana offered, jumping up. "Hold on."

As Wakana left the room, Chieko got off the sofa and bent down to quietly tell Shizuka to take her things upstairs and put them away, and then to stay there and play until dinner was ready. She pouted and mock-protested, but gathered up her drawing items (and Yosa) and went away. Soon after, Noriko and Hokuto arrived and took a seat, so I held the phone to my ear again.

"Alright, everyone's here, I'll put you on loudspeaker now." I told her, proceeding to do just that, before putting it down on the coffee table.

"Hey there, guys! Sorry to randomly call out of the blue like this."

"Hi there, Haruhi-Chan!" Hokuto called out, overshadowing the others simple hellos.

"It's not a problem," Akira replied. "Is there something wrong? With Tsukishima-san, maybe?"

"Oh, no, no. Well, yes to this being about Tsukishima-san, but nothing's wrong. In fact, I'd say that something's right."

There was a pause at this point.

"Well, are you going to bloody tell us or not?" Masashi huffed.

"Ah, yes, right. So…the painting of Yacchi-it's up in his office now. He put it up himself the very next morning-I was in early that day, and he's always early anyway, so I went to see if he wanted any coffee or whatever, and I walk in on him hammering a nail into a wall, the painting sitting on his desk. He didn't really seem to be getting anywhere with it-you can imagine that Tsukishima-san isn't really one for hanging up pictures." Haruhi broke off to laugh a little at that.

"So instead of starting the day with caffeine, I started it by doing a little decorating. Doesn't have the same kick to it, I can tell you. But it's there now, on the wall right behind him. It's the first thing you see when you walk into his office. It's so weird, seeing Yacchi stare at me every time I go there, but the picture looks a lot better up there than stuffed in some cupboard and what-have-you. Oh, but that's not all! He had a meeting pretty much a few hours after that, some big fancy one which needs tea, so after clearing up I went straight back into unofficial-secretary mode, and led people through and got tea for everyone. There were a few guys, they'd been here before, so they definitely noticed the painting, and one of them asked Tsukishima-san, but luckily I was there, so I was just quickly like 'oh, that's his daughter. It's a tragic story, so he doesn't like to talk about it, and I hope you'll respect that'. And it _worked_ , miraculously. The best thing though-after that meeting, before sending me back to do the stuff that's in my actual job description, Tsukishima-san held me back and thanked me for that, which was just so weird because I didn't think he'd heard as he'd gone to talk to another guy by then, but….well, yeah. There was kind of a look on his face like 'oh, I should've thought of that', so while I don't think he's ever going to be happy when people ask about her, I'm hoping that now he's not going to have the entire workforce quaking in their boots about what might happen if someone did. Well, kind of."

I could practically imagine Haruhi pulling a face as she said this.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Well, he fired someone today, this guy he's been business partners with for _years_ -"

"He what?!" Masashi, Hokuto and Noriko all squawked, nowhere near in-unison. Haruhi's sigh crackled slightly.

"Yeah. There's a sort-of good reason for it though. So, basically, another thing that happened is, Tsukishima-san invited me over to his house for dinner-his _house_ , for _dinner_ , and also to help him sort out…well, he asked me to sort out Yacchi's stuff. He'd shoved it all into this cardboard box and basically shoved it into his basement, it was the dustiest thing you'd ever seen and…well, it was kinda nostalgic, except that neither of us actually mentioned the thing we were reminiscing about except when it was completely necessary. But anyway, De Guerre-san, you were right about Yacchi's secret being with her stuff."

"I….was?" I asked.

"Oh, really? How weird, why would she keep it?" Hokuto wondered.

"I've been wondering that myself." Haruhi muttered darkly. "It doesn't matter though, I guess. Tsukishima-san delivered some sort of justice for Yacchi, firing the guy I just mentioned. "

"I….this person did something to her?" I asked tentatively.

"Tried to. The wording was kinda ambiguous, but from the sounds of it Yacchi managed to escape that scumbag. And he is a scumbag, just for trying. And we're both probably still beating ourselves up a little for being completely oblivious. "

"That's…horrible. But it isn't your fault." Wakana said.

"No, no, it isn't. But strangely enough, going through her things and finding that out…I think it helped. It's still early days, mind you, but somethings definitely different. He didn't say as much, but when he fired that guy-who doesn't know the real reason, by the way-there was something kinda brighter about him, you know? And he got _me_ coffee this morning. I have a feeling I'm still going to have to phone his office to make sure he's still not in there right now, but there's definitely steps in the right direction."

 _Brighter, huh?_ That made sense-here, after all, an opportunity had been presented for him to be able to do something for her, and I couldn't imagine him passing that up.

"So, yeah, it's kind of been this wild ride of emotions, this past few days. But it's all been good-I mean, he put the picture up, I had a meal with him, he gave me coffee, he's not so quick to go cold when Yacchi is mentioned. And I can't even _begin_ to describe what a good thing this all is. And you know what? None of it would have happened, _none_ of it, if De-Guerre-san hadn't painted that picture, and if you hadn't all come to deliver it, so I needed to tell you about it all and…just, thank you. Thank you."

On the last 'thank you', Haruhi's voice grew thicker. The room was almost completely silent, and we all looked at each other.

"You're welcome, Haruhi." I replied, eventually.

"Ah, yeah, sure. Well, I'll leave you all to enjoy your evening. Bye, now."

"Bye!" Hokuto called out cheerily just before Haruhi hung up. I picked up my phone, and stared at it.

 _Tsukishima…_ I had not expected to ever hear about them again, not about Yashiro. I thought that after the painting, after talking with them, that would be that. I'd probably contact Haruhi if I needed website work done, years and years later, but the rest would be left behind us and no longer spoken of-that's what I'd assumed. I certainly hadn't imagined that I be given an update without prompting, like a gift.

"Those poor people." Wakana murmured after a moment.

"Poor?" Noriko asked. "Sounds like they're getting closure, what's sad about that?"

"Well, I guess so. But it still remains, doesn't it? The reason you needed closure in the first place." Wakana replied.

"Well, yeah, but…" Noriko opened and closed her mouth repeatedly a few times. Wakana smiled at her.

"You're right though. It's good, that they're moving in the direction that they're moving."

"They needed it. That." I spoke up. "They needed it."

At this, everyone fell silent and stared at me. I blinked and stared back, feeling awkward when nobody really reacted.

"What?" I asked after a moment.

"De Guerre-Chan, you're crying." Wakana said.

"I what?" I reached up and touched the corner of my eye. "Oh."

Quickly, I wiped away the tears, and took a breath before looking back at my friends. They were all watching me, looking slightly concerned. I was touched by the concern, but even though my mind was reeling after Haruhi's update, I wasn't upset by it, not in the way one might expect. Because:

"I think I needed that too."


	30. Depending On Each Other

_Akira_

Chieko was the last one to come back down again, coming down a few moments after Wakana.

"She's asleep now. "She said simply, before sitting down in the empty space on the sofa next to Wakana.

"So, what're we all gathered here for?" Hokuto asked casually.

 _Best to just say it._

"What would you think of going to see Yukizome-sensei this week?" I asked.

For a moment, it was as if time had stopped. Then, six very confused faces stared at me. Or, rather, five, because Masashi didn't look surprised at all. Which, of course, wasn't all that surprising. I had told him about this in the morning, after all.

"Yukizome….sensei?" Noriko echoed.

"Why?" Tyson asked. Then he blinked. "Sorry, that's a silly question."

"Nah, mate, it isn't, really." Masashi consoled.

"It was just a thought." I shrugged. "I asked Munakata-sempai about if it'd be alright, and he said that it should be fine. "

I decided not to mention how recently I had asked, since I didn't see what that would add to the conversation.

"Oh…..that would be nice." Noriko said, smiling. But something about the smile wasn't quite right, and I noticed Chieko give Wakana an uncertain look. Seeming to realise I was looking, Chieko then warily glanced over at me, but didn't say anything.

"The thing is, does she even remember us?" Wakana was the one to speak up after a long moment.

"I…was wondering the same thing, myself." Tyson said. "But I wasn't sure how to say it without sounding…callous, at best. "

"Eh, is it? I was about to ask the same thing myself." Hokuto piped up.

"To be honest, I'd say what's callous is the way that Enoshi-the way she, the way she….."

Noriko trailed off, and for a moment, I couldn't meet anyone's eyes. I quietly looked down at my lap, studied my fists intently, as if I wasn't remembering what we'd seen that particular day. As if the actions, and the consequences, weren't burnt into my mind forever. As if they weren't for any of the others in this room, either.

"Munakata-sempai says she does, in a manner of speaking." I explained eventually.

"What does that mean?" Hokuto asked.

"I'm not sure. She asks about us, knows all our names. He's given her a simplified explanation of what happened, that there's just us now, though beyond the fact they're dead, it's hard to say how much she really understands. She doesn't have any proper memories of what happened to her, not anymore. You'd be able to have a conversation with her, she can talk and is understandable. "

" _Don't listen to him! Don't give in to what he wants! This is an order, as your teacher." Somehow, Yukizome managed to push one of the Monobear robots away, and pointed a shaking, annoyed finger at the actual Monobear._

" _You've known each other for much, much longer than…" Yukizome stopped for a moment as she gasped for breath. "Much longer than you've….been here….don't listen to him."_

" _Much longer?" Hibiki asked me nervously. I shook my head-I had no idea why she was saying that, either, when it was frankly incorrect._

Of course, later on, when we were all free and I joined the Foundation, we found out that for whatever reason, Yukizome's memory had not been wiped along with ours. So when she had been watching us watch her torment, she was looking at us with the eyes of a teacher who had seen us grow over the course of almost an entire school year, whereas we had been looking at her through the eyes of students still getting to know her and each other. Whether she had realised that or not still wasn't clear, but either way, what Enoshima had inflicted on her had essentially cancelled out the difference in our memories.

Noticing that nobody had said anything, I looked back up at this point, to see everyone else all still deep in remembering. I waited.

"So, we wouldn't cause her to…get worse, or anything?" Chieko asked after a further moment's silence.

"As long as we're careful, I don't see why not." I replied carefully.

Chieko pursed her lips and appeared to consider this information. The others exchanged tentative looks, and Masashi glanced at me, pulling a face I couldn't interpret.

"I'd like to see her. She was so good to us." Noriko spoke up eventually.

"Yeah, that's true." Wakana agreed. "She really liked us, and…well, have you been to see her recently, Kazama-Chan?"

"Not _recent_ , recent." I admitted. "It was probably more than a few months ago, the last time."

"Oh. I don't know. I'd feel bad, knowing she still remembers us, and not going to see her, even though we remember her. You know?" Wakana shrugged helplessly.

"Yeah, I know."

"Did he invite us on a particular day?" Tyson asked. "I mean, I assume there would have to be arrangements made?"

"While he said he could work around whatever suited you guys, he said Wednesday and Saturday would be the best days. Either way, as long as we call ahead-"

Suddenly, Hokuto got up, rubbing her forehead tiredly.

"Sorry, guys, I'm shattered, so I'm going to go sleep. Tell me what you decide in the morning, yeah?"

"Of course," I said. "Sleep well."

"Thanks."

Hokuto left the room quickly, and I caught a flicker of expression that seemed to suggest that this had been too much for her. Inwardly, I cursed. _I should have thought._

"Well," Masashi stated resolutely. "I'm all up for going to see Sensei. Edano-tan and Abe-tan are right, after all. "

"Alright then, so which day-"

"Oh, wait!" Noriko exclaimed, interrupting me. "What about the summer festival? What day is that on?!"

"That's in the evening though, whatever day it is." Masashi pointed out.

"So?" Noriko retorted.

"Ah, I'll go check the leaflet!" Wakana said quickly, leaping up and going to do just that.

"I still want to see her, though." Noriko stated empathetically when Wakana had gone.

"It's alright, I know." I told her.

Wakana came back pretty quickly.

"It's on Saturday night." She informed us, sitting back down.

"So, Wednesday, then." I said.

"I'm fine with that." Tyson shrugged.

"So I am I." Wakana agreed. Noriko and Masashi chimed in with something similar.

"Akamine-san?" I probed. It hadn't escaped my notice that she'd been completely silent.

"Yeah, Chieko-Chan?" Wakana tilted her head curiously.

Chieko sighed, breathed out, looked down at her lap for a moment before looking back at us again.

"It'll be a good opportunity for Shizuka to go visit the Higuchis' place again…." She began, referring to the family she'd met while out that morning. I nodded, and waited.

"It's alright if you don't want to." Masashi interjected. Chieko flicked a sideways glance, and appeared to be thinking carefully about what to say next.

"If….if I was to try, and find that I just couldn't, would it be okay for me to leave?"

"Of course."

"Duh, obviously!" Masashi blurted out at the same time as me. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he either didn't notice or chose to ignore it.

"So, it'll be Wednesday then." Tyson checked.

"I'll phone tomorrow morning and make sure, but yes, that's right." I confirmed.

"Okay then." Noriko grinned at me, a tad too bright. "I look forward to it."

I raised another ignored eyebrow at her, and sighed before getting up.

"Well, I think it's about time we all went to sleep now, isn't it? I'll see you all in the morning."

 **…**

 _Noriko_

"Hey, Ho-Chi, you awake?" I whispered cautiously as I climbed into bed, taking off my glasses and folding them carefully before putting them on the bedside table and pulling the covers up around me. Lying on her side, back turned to me, Hokuto didn't stir at all, but after a long pause, she spoke, voice thick with sleepiness.

"Yeah."

"So…uh." Not entirely sure what to do now, I stopped. "Uh, you alright?"

"Yeah…."

"You sure?" I pressed. "I mean…"

"Because I left the room?" Hokuto filled in.

"Yeah." I breathed out.

There was silence again, and I waited, still sitting up. Once or twice, back in those first few weeks, Hokuto had stormed out of conversations before, in a fit of angry tears. We'd later learnt it was because her father's death was still raw for her. This wasn't a storming out-quite the opposite, really. But I wondered if maybe the root cause was similar-of something being too raw for her.

"Am I selfish?" Hokuto asked eventually.

"Huh?" I blinked in the darkness, trying to understand what she meant.

"For not really wanting to see Yukizome-sensei." Hokuto clarified.

 _Uh…._

"Chieko-Chan was hesitant too." I offered up eventually. In a way, I was too, so it was not as if I could point fingers even if I _did_ think what Hokuto assumed.

"But she came around eventually, right?" Hokuto responded.

"I guess….."

"So it'll only be me, if I don't go."

 _Uh…_ Once again, I was stuck, so this time, I didn't say anything. And after a few moments, Hokuto filled in the silence anyway. _Ugh, why is this conversation so hard?_

"I feel selfish, for not wanting to see her, that's the thing. Because of what happened to her. I just…I remember it too well in the first place, you know? But it feels like I'm blaming her, in a way, for what someone else did to her. "

"I…none of us think you're selfish, Ho-Chi." I said, surprised. "And we're not going to think of you badly for not deciding to come. "

"Really?" Hokuto asked tremulously.

"Sure. I'm just wondering what you'll do alone."

"….I don't know that, either." Hokuto admitted.

"Well, if it helps, Chieko-Chan doesn't know if she's going to stay the whole time either, she might leave earlier if she gets overwhelmed." I explained.

"Hmmm…maybe I'll ask her in the morning. We can team up or something." Hokuto's said, sounding a little less morose about it all.

"Yeah." Suddenly, I yawned, remembering that it was the middle of the night. _Great job, Noriko!_ I mentally scolded myself.

"Right, let's go to sleep now. Night, Ho-Chi." I said, yawning through the entire sentence. Next to me, Hokuto chuckled lightly.

"Goodnight."

 **…**

 _Tyson_

To my surprise, I woke up crying, instead of screaming or out of breath.

" _So, yeah, it's kind of been this wild ride of emotions, this past few days. But it's all been good-I mean, he put the picture up, I had a meal with him, he gave me coffee, he's not so quick to go cold when Yacchi is mentioned. And I can't even begin to describe what a good thing this all is. And you know what? None of it would have happened, none of it, if De-Guerre-san hadn't painted that picture, and if you hadn't all come to deliver it, so I needed to tell you about it all and…just, thank you. Thank you."_

Sitting up, I wiped my eyes. _How weird._ I wasn't sure if this was progress or not. Surely progress would mean not dreaming at all? It was a welcome change, to not be dreaming of the things that happened seven years ago, or how things could have turned out. Yet, though I had needed Haruhi's call, it still left me with a weird feeling. _What do I do now?_

I looked around the room, considered my sleeping pills and the possibility of going back to sleep, but I found myself dismissing it. All things considered, I wasn't that tired. Or, I was, but not desperate enough to need to get back to sleep as soon as possible.

 _Perhaps a glass of milk,_ I thought to myself. _Besides, Wakana will probably be there._ As previous nights had proven, the company would be nice. Definitely better than sitting here and wondering what to do with my life. So, I got up and put my slippers on, and then headed downstairs.

Sure enough, when I got there, Wakana was sitting at the table, and I was glad. She appeared to be concentrating deeply on what she was writing. A new song, I knew. I wondered how it was going and what it would sound like. I was looking forward to finding out, certainly. Since she didn't look up at first, I decided to get myself some milk first, before sitting down next to her.

"Oh," Wakana looked up and blinked. "Hey, De Guerre-Chan. You alright?"

"I'm fine. Looks like the piece's coming along nicely." I said, pointing at the pages filled with musical notation. Wakana looked down at it, and nodded.

"It's more like pieces, in truth. I'm just trying to figure out where one ends and the other begins. It's harder than you think it might be."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Harder than 'impossible'?" I asked. "Because that's what it'd be to me."

Wakana blinked at me again, and then a tiny smile lit up her face.

"I don't know why that pleases me, but it does."

"Glad to be of service."

Wakana returned to her work, making a couple of notes with the pen she was holding, then putting it down and picking up another in a different colour and apparently annotating a section further up the page, before flicking back and doing the same to another line. As she worked, I sipped my milk, and watched her. After a little while, she flicked a sideways glance at me, even though she didn't look up.

"Oh, my apologies. Am I making you uncomfortable?"

She shook her head, and returned to her work for a while longer, before sighing and stretching.

"My hands are cramping up." She announced, before getting up and going to get a glass of water.

Returning soon enough, she pushed aside her notebook and pens, and sat back down, setting her glass on the table. She concentrated on clenching and unclenching her fists, trying to get the life back into her hands, no doubt.

"How long have you been down here?" I asked after a moment of watching her do this.

"…Probably most of the night." She replied after a moment's thought.

"And….you've been working non-stop."

"Yeah, I suppose." She shrugged, and smiled helplessly. "I guess I lost track of the time a little. "

I noticed her eyes were tired, slightly dark shadows underneath them. I felt guilty for relying on the possibility that she would be down here if I came.

"Though I'm not really one to talk, do you get any sleep at all?" I asked her.

"Not really. I'm kind of used to it, now. I do a lot of work in the night, it turns out."

I just gave her a _look_ , and she sighed and rubbed the back of her head.

"I know, it's not the healthiest thing to do, but….it's all I've been able to do." She said. "It's either this, or remembering. It's always the worst at night."

"Yeah, I know."

"Ah, of course you do. Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about." I replied easily. "Have you ever thought about going to the doctor?"

"What, for something to help me sleep?" Wakana asked curiously.

When I nodded, she considered this for a moment.

"I considered it, but….I don't know. That doesn't feel right to me." She eventually said.

"Right?" I echoed.

I had to admit, I sort of felt the same way. Yet, as imperfect as the solution was, I used it, because it was the only way I'd found of dealing with things that seemed to work. Well, until now, in any case.

"As much as I don't want to think about back then, as much as I'd rather forget it, I feel like that if I do, then I might lose the other things too. The memories of the happier times, the reasons that I miss them all in the first place, you know? If there was any guarantee that I could pick and choose what to forget, and slice it away without taking away any of the precious stuff along with it, then I'd do it easily. "

There was nothing to say to that.

"But, you know," Wakana looked down at the pages of her notebook. "It's not bad, here. I've not really figured it out yet, but somehow it's less draining to pull all these all-nighters here. It's…nicer isn't quite the right sentiment, but something along those lines, in any case. "

At this, I nodded. I thought I sort of understood what she was saying. It had been embarrassing at first, having everyone know how bad my nightmares were. And it was not as if they'd been cured. But something was happening, and it didn't feel so much like I was spiralling out of control any more. It was easier to believe that somewhere down the line, there would be an end to it all.

"I'm kind of scared, actually. About what it'll be like when I get back. I know it won't be anything like this."

This sentence came out a lot more whispered than the ones that had come before, but for some reason, it felt stronger. I nodded again, but again found there was nothing I could say. Wakana picked up a pen, uncapped it, then seemed to change her mind and just put it back down.

"Sorry, I didn't intend to dump that all on you." She apologised, not looking at me.

"It's fine. That's what we're here for, right? We're all SHSL Survivors, we look out for each other."

Wakana grimaced, though it was only half an expression I caught, given that she was still looking at the pages. I frowned.

"Wakana, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

"Perhaps you should drink your water…" I cautiously suggested.

"Huh?" Wakana looked up, noticed the glass, and shook her head. "You know, I completely forgot about that. Thanks."

She took the glass, and sipped on it, concentrating on it intently. Too intently. _What should I do?_ There had to be something I could do. If not to help completely, then to even the scales out a bit, because I'd come down here with the expectation that she'd be there to keep me company. _There has to be something._

"May I suggest something that's probably going to come across as being rather forward of me, Ma'am?"

Halfway through the water, Wakana put her glass down and regarded me cautiously.

"Sure?" she said eventually, sounding unsure.

"I'm thinking you might need a hug."

There was nothing but silence as she stared at me. There was an air of pensiveness about her expression, but apart from that, I couldn't work out what she was thinking. _Yikes, I really did suggest something inappropriate, didn't I?_ But then, Wakana let out a huge sigh, shuffled her chair closer, and then rested her head against my shoulder. Startled, I looked down at her, but she didn't look up at me, or say anything. After a moment's hesitation, I loosely put my arms around her, but didn't do anything else, not knowing whether that would be too forward of me or not, whether it would be inappropriate. Even so, I remained like that, because at least it was something.

* * *

 **Fun-but-useless-fact about this chapter: I wrote most of this while waiting for a new microwave to be delivered in the morning, because I was put on lookout duty by my parents...only to discover that the delivery slot had been randomly changed -.-' The microwave did eventually come though.**

 **And here, have a song recommendation as well: 百火繚乱** ( **'Hyakka Ryouran') by Ito Kashitaro**

 **Anyway, I've got a couple of random questions to ask you readers: Firstly, what are your ships of this fic? Doesn't matter if they're past or present, with side characters or main characters, involving the dead characters or the living ones, just, what are your favourite ships, and why?  
The other question is really only for those of you who have characters in this fic-do/did your characters have any beliefs in the afterlife? And as a sort of sub question, did this change over the course of the game (and for those whose characters are Survivors, did their beliefs change in the years after escaping?). **

**Both questions are just for my own curiosity/interest, though admittedly any answers to the second one may be something I can use. Still, yeah, I'd be interested in your answers to these questions if you wanted to answer :)**

 **Anyway, as always, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave feedback!**


	31. Scraps of the Past 6

Somehow, Towa City Central Hospital was still standing. To be sure, the back half of the building had collapsed in on itself, there was rubble and shattered glass everywhere and of course there was no mistaking the fire and smoke billowing out. But the hospital was still standing, and for Seiko Kimura, that was the main thing as she rushed around with the other staff, trying to get people out from under the rubble and evacuating everyone else.

"Does anyone know when the firefighters will be coming?" someone yelled out as she escorted some of the patients who had been in the waiting room outside to safety.

"A-Arakawa-san called, so they should be here soon! B-but I'm not too sure!" Seiko replied as she led the patients over to Tsumiki, who was looking more than harried dealing with their minor complaints and trying to reassure them, as a freshly wrapped bandage around her head began to unravel itself. _Hopefully she'll notice and fix it…._

"I'll come and help you out in a minute," Seiko reassured her subordinate quickly. "I-I just h-have to see w-what I c-can do over there."

"A-ah, s-sure! Thanks, sempai!" Tsumiki nodded rapidly, before turning to the next person. Seiko wasted no time, and ran back around to the other side of the building, and joined the others there who were trying to rescue anybody who was trapped, with some futilely throwing buckets of water at the fire. Time seemed to whizz by as she quickly got caught up in trying to rescue as many as possible, and she soon started to grow weary to the extent that she pulled away her face mask so she could breathe a little better, but she kept on and on, defying her own strength to try and pull people out from under the rubble.

 _If only I had my medicines._ It was just her luck that she only had her own medications on her, and that everything else was in her labs-which she couldn't get to at this moment. Those would help so much, but since she couldn't rely on them, she just had to keep going. _It'll be fine, I just have to save as many people as possible._

"Yo, Kimura, step aside now."

Seiko yelped, and nearly dropped the piece of rubble she was carrying on her foot as she glared at the doctor. He rubbed his head tiredly, and Seiko noticed how his coat was slightly dusty, and bloodstained. He then pointed, and it was then Seiko noticed the firemen had arrived, with all sorts of equipment.

"They need to put out the fire and all." He said, before his attention was taken by a flurry of activity, and he rushed off.

"Y-yes, that's right." Seiko stammered behind him, looking around her, marvelling at just how many people the hospital held. _How did I not notice all of this noise before? It's so noisy, it's so loud. Like a warzone or something._ She stood there and watched, something in her chest clenching as she watched people cry and scream and cling to each other while they sought help, and even while they received it. Was this connected to the string of events that had been in the news, one of those attacks by the 'Remains of Despair', or whatever it is they called themselves? It didn't make much sense if they were-the name of the hospital didn't have anything to do with 'hope' at all, and they really were just an ordinary city hospital _. Although, I'm a Hope's Peak alumni, and so is Tsumiki-san…..and I'm pretty sure Arakawa-san graduated as the SHSL Physio the same year I joined….but that's three people, that's not enough of a connection to 'hope'…surely?_

"No, no, that's silly." She muttered to herself. Anyway, there was Tsumiki. She had promised to help, and with the media and police being added into the mix, she would need to fulfil that promise. In any case, she'd soon find out if this attack was the work of the same cult.

More people were being taken away, she could see as she quickly rushed back to Tsumiki, trying not to bump into anyone, but there were still many that her colleagues were simply trying to treat there, and hopefully send home. Well, eventually send home. As she strode back to where Tsumiki was, she noticed police cars turn up, and she knew that they would be trying to get every last statement that they could. She knew she'd stammer through it, but she would do what she could to explain what happened, to help them get justice for the victims.

 _Oh, but I feel so useless.I need to be doing more than this._

"Seiko-Chan!"

 _Huh?_ Seiko stopped in her tracks, and turned around.

"Seiko-Chan!"

 _Okay, no, I wasn't imagining that at all._

She barely had time to process that fact before all of a sudden someone she hadn't seen in years came barrelling towards her, grabbing her in a breath-stealing hug. Seiko flailed as she got a mouthful of a furry collar, and just about managed to keep her footing as Ruruka squeezed her.

"Seiko-Chan, thank goodness! You're okay!"

"Ruruka-Chan…?" _This doesn't make sense .I thought you hated me. I thought that I was a traitor._

"I'm so glad! We heard on the news, and we knew you worked here, so I just thought…..I just thought…" Ruruka released Seiko from the hug and held her at arm's length. "I thought that you'd be….like that."

Ruruka pointed, and Seiko followed her gaze to the figures lying on the ground in body bags.

"And I thought that no, I didn't want that to be so, I didn't want that, because if you had been one of those poor people and I had just left things as they were….Seiko-Chan, I'm sorry!"

"I….don't understand…." Seiko murmured, looking back at Ruruka, this person she'd known since she was little and yet had never been able to understand, especially not once things had deteriorated. _Perhaps, I should have tried harder._

"What can we do to help you, this time?" Ruruka asked, apparently not having heard. "Are you thirsty?"

"Huh?" Seiko barely had time to process anything before Ruruka had shoved a water bottle at her, but that was when she noticed that Ruruka had a carrier bag swinging off her arm, filled with bottles of water and other drinks, and another that was filled with items of confectionary.

"I'd imagine you'd must be thirsty, right, Seiko-Chan? You always did do everything you could for people in trouble…but anyway, you didn't answer me. Is there anything we can do to help you, for a change?"

 _Help….me…? That's…different._

 _We?_ Seiko looked past Ruruka, to see that Izayoi had been standing there all this time, observing silently. In hindsight, that made sense. Even when they had been little, Izayoi had been loath to leave Ruruka's side. He nodded at her once, but waited for Ruruka to explain. While she did, Seiko opened the water bottle and tentatively drank from it, and was soon pleased to discover it was simply water, and not some ruse to make her have something sweet.

 _Oh, don't be ridiculous. That was never Ruruka-Chan's style….._

"Yoi-Chan said that probably some of the people you work with are trapped and hurt, and not just patients, so you probably need help looking after everyone, right? We got some first aid stuff, and I brought food and things…because well, for people who 'can' eat sugar, it's supposed to be good for shock and all, right…?"

Ruruka stuttered a little over the last part of her rambling explanation, as if she wasn't sure if she even understood what she was saying, before she stared anticipatorily at Seiko, waiting for approval.

"Ah, yeah, that's right…."

 _This is different. It's like she's started to understand things better. Or she's trying to, at least._

"Give her this chance." Izayoi spoke up now, quiet to the extent Seiko had to strain to hear. "Give us this chance to try and help you instead, now that you need it. Just tell us what you need done, and later, later we can resolve our own issues, okay?"

At that moment, Seiko remembered, how before, Ruruka had helped her with English homework, back when she hadn't been so good at the subject. How when her bag had broken in middle school, Ruruka'd lent her own bag and let her keep it. How she'd had made elaborate handmade cards for her birthday right up until they had stopped being friends. How she'd bravely walked up to the class bully to stoutly inform him that he was mistaken, that 'Seiko-Chan _does_ have friends, because I'm one of them!', and how she'd always been so admiring of what she could do even as other kids derided it as nerdy.

Or, in other words, how once, they had been friends.

 _Perhaps, we'll get to be friends again._

And suddenly, even though chaos still reigned all around them as she led them over to Tsumiki, Seiko decided that perhaps she wouldn't end up so useless after all.

* * *

 **I suppose it would have been more fitting for Rei's Scraps of the Past chapter to come now, considering it's not too long ago there were chapters about her, but chronologically speaking, this event happens before she breaks up with Hokuto. So Rei's will be the next Scraps of the Past.**

 **Anyway, where this is concerned, I suppose I should explain how the reconciliation ended up occurring, from Ruruka's side of things. Essentially, though immediately after their expulsion she felt betrayed and hurt and humiliated and all that, as time went by and she and Yoi tried to make it on their own (at this point, Ruruka's own family completely disowned her, and though Yoi's family did eventually reconcile and become a form of support, the relationships there were fractured for a while), it turned out that being free from all that expectation was possibly the best thing to happen to her (I mean, come on, Hope's Peak's ethos + Ruruka's existing insecurities was basically a disaster waiting to happen anyway). She came to realise her worth could be measured in more than just her sweet making, and started to feel more at ease with herself. Yoi was by her side the whole time, even when things were at their very worst, no matter what, but he also encouraged her to see therapists and get more professional help. And so she started to get better, and started to realise that she had been wrong in many things, and tried to make amends the best way that she could.**

 **As the years went by, she eventually started thinking about how unfair she had been to Seiko, and wanted to make amends. Yet, since that was her biggest mistake, and there was all that humiliation and stuff mixed up in her memories, she was hesitant to make approaches, even as from a distance, she kept an eye on what Seiko was doing, and wished her well. The years went by, she opened her own shop, married Yoi, had her son, and all these large milestones she found herself wishing Seiko had been there, which of course made her think she should try and approach her and beg forgiveness. But her fear held her back each time...and then the hospital was bombed.  
** **She heard it on the radio while she was working, but didn't make the connection until Yoi wondered aloud if that was the same hospital Seiko worked at. Then, she freaked out, wondering if it was too late now, but Yoi calmed her down, suggested they go check. Ruruka agreed, and had the brainwave of bringing food and water to help the efforts. So once they make arrangements for one of Yoi's aunts to pick Shunsuke up from daycare that day, they head straight there. And so, this scene happens. And afterwards, they do eventually start to repair their friendship, and are getting along fairly well (if still careful about it all) by the time the Mutual Killing Game starts. And they are properly close by the time the present timeline of this story starts, and their dynamic is a lot healthier now. Seiko also gets on reasonably well with Yoi, as she gets to know him better than she ever did before, and Shunsuke adores his 'Aunty Seiko'.**

 **I actually considered writing this Scraps of the Past from Ruruka's POV at first, hence the wall of text I just used to explain things, but then thought it might be nice to give Seiko a voice, for a change. Because honestly, all the canon Class 76 trio need love, not just Ruruka.**

 **Anyway, as always, hope you liked this chapter, and please leave feedback!**


	32. Visit, part 1

_Chieko_

Though we were going to see Yukizome for lunch, I dropped Shizuka off at Sakura's in the morning, figuring it would be nice for her to have an entire day with her friends. That, and Sakura had insisted when I'd phoned her about the whole situation yesterday morning. Shizuka, of course, was just excited about the prospect, and thankfully it hadn't occurred to her to ask what we'd all be doing, never mind why she was going to spend the whole day with them. So on that front, at least, I was fine.

Everything else, I wasn't so sure about.

With the exception of Noriko and Masashi squabbling about food (at least, I _thought_ it was food that they were going on about…) in the back of the car, the car was silent as Akira drove us to the house in which Munakata and Yukizome lived. As I was sitting near to the windows, I leaned against them and stared out, thinking.

" _I….how is Yukizome-sensei?" Noriko blurted out suddenly._

 _We all looked at Munakata beseechingly at this, waiting for him to answer, and he stared back at us, his pale colouring seeming even colder as he thought whatever thoughts he was thinking. He seemed to be cataloguing each of our injuries, though he subtly and guiltily averted his gaze when he noticed me looking._

" _Please, Munakata-sempai." Akira asked, voice hoarse._

 _Eventually, after a moment, Munakata rubbed his face and looked at us directly, sadness coming off of him in waves._

" _I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the injuries she sustained were very, very serious. She's in surgery right now, and that's not the end of it either. Really….it's a miracle she's alive."_

Most of the time, they'd interviewed us separately. I'd never really understood why, but it was something to do with procedure. That, and I guess it gave them more information if they had all our separate perspectives than if we were just interviewed in one go. We all had different memories of the day we'd been captured (or the day we thought it had been, whatever it was), for one thing. And with so many of us lost, they needed to know as much as they could. So it was understandable. But with Yukizome's torture, in the end, none of us had been able to give specific details on that by ourselves. Even me, with Andou specifically there to encourage me, holding my hand and whispering reassurances and producing a constant stream of sweet treats. It had been one thing to simply say that it had happened and been offered as a motive, another to give the finer details they asked of us. We'd needed each other to be able to give them all the information they'd needed, to prompt each other and pick up the ends of sentences and just to hold each other's hands. For one person to be able to express it all…it had been impossible. Thankfully, they had noticed that, and so for that, we'd been together.

"Almost there." Akira said suddenly, jolting me out of my train of thought.

"We are?" Wakana asked.

"Yes. We're coming up to the road now…." Akira trailed off as he turned the corner and drove the car onto a residential street, one that consisted of large, detached houses, all looking like they belonged to people who were wealthy and affluent. _Is Munakata-sempai wealthy?_ Slowing down, he appeared to be looking for a place to park.

"It's that one." He pointed to one, but as there was a car in the space in front of the house, he drove slightly past it. Still, as he found a space across the road, and concentrated on parking the car in it, I studied the house.

It was a little smaller than the rest of the houses on the street, but no less expensive looking for it. It was painted a clean white, with a slate-grey-tile roof and a dark green door, with a small garage off to the side, the doors to it shut firmly. There wasn't much of a front garden-it was simply paved with flat grey tiles, but there were roses growing all around the door-huge, soft red blooms, the plants starting from two pots either side of the ramp that had been put there in lieu of a more typical doorstep, growing upwards and tangling with each other at the top, creating a sort of arch over it. A few petals had fallen from some of the flowers, but asides from that they were in pristine condition-clearly, someone came to maintain the roses regularly. I wondered who it was. I didn't think that Yukizome would be able to do it, and I couldn't quite imagine Munakata as someone who'd do any kind of gardening work. Then again, it was not as if I knew him, not in any real sense.

Once the car was parked, Akira and Masashi got out of the car first, and opened the doors for the rest of us to clamber out, and then shut the doors once we were all out. Looking either side to make sure nothing was coming, we all crossed the road together and then gathered in front of the doorway. I reached up and touched a petal of one of the smaller roses. It was as soft as it felt, and when I moved my hand, it came away. _Oh._ I didn't want to drop it for some reason, so I decided to hold onto it. And at that moment, the door opened, even though I hadn't realised that one of the others had rung the doorbell.

"Oh, you're here already."

It was safe to say that I had not expected Sakakura to be the one answering the door.

"We're not too early, are we, Sakakura-sempai?" Akira asked, clearly not surprised.

"Nah, it's fine." Sakakura shrugged. "Yuki'll be pleased. Come in."

 _Yuki?_

"Yuki?" Noriko echoed my confusion, sounding like she was about to burst out laughing. Sakakura mock-glared in a way that I vaguely remembered from back then.

"I see you're the same as ever, Edano." He retorted.

"Oh, you recognise me?" Noriko teased, gesturing to her hair.

Sakakura huffed and rolled his eyes at that as we stepped inside and took our shoes off. He locked the door before answering.

"For your information, Yuki's the one who insisted on the nickname." He grumbled. Something about his expression reminded me of Masashi, and I resisted the urge to point this out.

"Ahhh, so 'Yuki' is Yukizome-sensei." Wakana said. "That makes sense."

"It really _doesn't_." Sakakura huffed, before leading us to a room and calling out. "Yo, Munakata, Yuki, they're here!"

"Eh? They are? Already?" A light, childlike but still very familiar voice responded, accompanied by the sounds of a small dog yapping happily.

"Sounds like it. We'll have to put the book away for now. Bring them in, Sakakura." Munakata's voice said.

We followed Sakakura into the living room, large, done up in neutral colours and floral patterns. There was a large sofa on one side of the room, underneath the large window, a few arm chairs opposite it. Against the wall nearest to the armchair that was furthest away from the door, there was a bookshelf, filled with books that, at a glance, appeared to be arranged in alphabetical order, and Munakata was slipping a book back into it, before he got back up and greeted at us.

"Hello." He said evenly. His features were as pale and cold as ever, but they seemed softer and more worn down-his hair not as precise and neat as before, his forehead more creased, his expression gentle. He was about to say something else, when he was interrupted.

"Guys, you came! You really came!" Yukizome laughed from where she was sitting, her wheelchair parked between two of the armchairs. And though it was so bad of me, I stared.

Her brown hair was shoulder length, straight and left down to surround her gaunt face, though someone had taken the trouble to take a small section and tie a large marshmallow-pink ribbon around it in a loose bow. She was wearing a slightly-longer-than-knee length dress in a similar colour, patterned all over with darker pink roses, with a frilly white apron over the top, with long white socks and purple fluffy slippers. Though the dress was long-sleeved and high-necked, and the socks were long, I could see the beginning or end of various scars. I knew there would be more along her head and her forehead, but they were completely obscured by her hair and her fringe. Her eyes looked tired and old, but they were bright now as she beamed at us all, thin, tired hands stroking a small black fluffball of a puppy sitting on her lap, fuzzy tail wagging happily as it sized us up.

 _The door swung open abruptly, and a woman in a light blue skirt suit and an apron over it walked through the door, hands full of folders and other papers, her incredibly long thick brown ponytail streaming behind her and black high-heels clicking against the floor. With a flourish, she dumped the folders and papers on her desk, and turned to regard us, putting her hands on her hips. Her green eyes were wide and lively as she sized us up._

" _12 of you!" She proclaimed suddenly. "That's a reasonable start, but not good enough! We'll need to find the rest of your new classmates. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Introductions are in order! I'll go first. I'm Chisa Yukizome, and I'll be your homeroom teacher while you're at Hope's Peak! And, I actually used to be an SHSL student myself-Housekeeper, and proud of it! So if you want to know anything about how Hope's Peak was in the old days, please ask me. Now, let's all get to know each other before we hunt down your other classmates. Who wants to go first?"_

 _Her grin became wider as she regarded us again, and I could not help but smile back. I could tell that this year was going to be fun already, with someone as passionate as her as a teacher. Noticing my reaction, she pointed right at me._

" _Do you want to volunteer?"_

Wakana tugged at my hand gently, and I realised that everyone had already sat down somewhere, asking polite, wary questions of Yukizome, while she answered them. Feeling my cheeks heat up, I went to sit next to Wakana, and thought of something to say. Absently, I rubbed at the rose petal still in my hand.

"How are you, Akamine-san?" Munakata asked me quietly as Tyson, Noriko and Wakana laughed with Yukizome about something.

"I'm fine, thanks."

"And, erm, how's your daughter? She'd be quite big now, right?" this was said a little more stiffly, but no less polite.

"Shizuka'll be seven in December-she's in first grade."

"First grade? Woah." This came from Sakakura, who raised a very shocked eyebrow when I looked in his direction.

"Anyway, she's fine." I continued.

"Kazama-kun told me that you brought her with you for this trip of yours." Munakata commented carefully.

"That's right, but we made a friend in this area, so she's gone around to play with them today." I explained simply.

"Kyosuke did, right, Kyosuke?!"

At this outburst from the other conversation, we looked over only to see Yukizome beaming happily as she pointed at Munakata, who stared and blinked. If it wasn't for the lack of light in her eyes, there would be nothing amiss in her happy expression.

"What did I do, Chisa?" he asked mildly.

"The roses, silly!" Chisa mock-pouted before smiling again. "You planted them, just for me!"

"Ah." Munakata's expression smoothed out, and he smiled the fondest smile I'd ever seen him give at any time, ever.

"Yes, that's right, the roses are just for you, Chisa. You've always wanted them, right?"

"Yup, allllwayyys." Chisa giggled.

"They're very nice roses." I offered. Chisa looked at me.

"Do you really think so? Do you have roses too, in your garden?"

"Uh…." I took a breath, told myself to be calm. "No, I don't."

"Ehhhh? Why?"

"I don't garden anymore."

The Yukizome of my memory would have looked mock-outraged, would have peppered me with detailed questions, been a little too probing, but ultimately with good intentions at heart. She would have told me not to let Enoshima ruin something that I had enjoyed so much, but in the end, she would have let me decide what to do for myself. This Yukizome, the one we were left with, pouted sadly, indignation beyond her.

"Why?" she asked.

 _Be calm, be calm._

"I don't know, I guess I don't have the time to keep up with it anymore. "

Half a lie, half truth. In between university and bringing up Shizuka and just trying to get from day to day, where was the time? But of course, perhaps if I hadn't been so broken, I'd have found it.

"Oh." Yukizome thought about this, but didn't seem to know what to make of it for a moment.

"You should come and help Kyosuke! I want more flowers, but he said he can't do it by himself!" she proclaimed eventually.

"Chisa, she did say she doesn't have time." Munakata told her mildly. "You can't just order her around."

"Oh," Yukizome visibly drooped. "Did I say something wrong?"

The dog, seeming to notice that Yukizome's mood had dropped, made a small whining noise and nuzzled her hands. She dropped her gaze to the dog, and resumed stroking it.

"No, no, it's fine." I said hurriedly. "I just….don't garden anymore. I'm sorry."

"Hey, sensei, what's the name of your dog?" Masashi blurted out all of a sudden. Gratefully, I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding, as Yukizome visibly brightened.

"Oh, this is Mimi!" The dog made a little yippy noise as if to confirm. "She's my puppy! Isn't she cute?"

"She's _very_ cute." Noriko agreed.

"She's my friend, keeps me company when Kyosuke and Ju-Chan are at work!" Chisa explained happily.

It took me a moment to realise that 'Ju-Chan' was Sakakura. I suspected the others were just as surprised, but none of them said a thing, not even Noriko. Or Hokuto for that matter. _Hmmm?_

"Are you on your own then, most of the day?" Noriko asked her instead.

"Tch, don't be silly." Sakakura scoffed. "You think we're that heartless?"

"We have a nurse, Tsumiki-san, who comes in to check on Chisa when we're not around to do so, though usually one of us will come back during breaks anyway." Munakata explained more levelly.

"Nurse Tsumiki's nice too!" Chisa chimed in. "I like her. Not as much as Kyosuke or Ju-Chan, but she's nice."

"Thank you, Chisa." Munakata smiled. Juzo coughed violently and tried to hide it, but Chisa awkwardly twisted around and stared at him.

"Ju-Chan, are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure, Yukizome."

"It's Yuki!" Yukizome insisted hotly. Juzo rolled his eyes, though it seemed clear this was more a reflexive reaction than anything.

"Okay, fine, sorry."

For a moment, I wondered if I was supposed to recognise the name of the nurse. Akira had nodded as if it meant something to him, but none of the others had particularly reacted. Mentally shrugging, I decided to take a step back, to not say anything anymore, and just watch as the others talked, because that was just so much easier.

Noriko and Wakana were the ones who said the most, Tyson and Masashi close behind. Though Akira said very little, he seemed very much at ease, as much so as Noriko was. Hokuto, on the other hand, seemed like me. She sat there, and smiled, but she didn't say anything either, and I tried to catch her eye, but since she was sitting furthest away from me, it was not so easy. _At least I'm not the only one, I guess…_

At one point, Yukizome let the little dog jump off her lap and run over to us. It sniffed at us expectantly, and went over to Noriko almost straight away, happily letting her rub its belly. I randomly remembered that Noriko'd had a dog as a little kid, though I couldn't remember when she'd told me that. But even so, she looked so happy as she picked up the dog and giggled. I could imagine Shizuka having much the same reaction-even though cats were by far her favourite, she liked animals generally anyway. She'd probably go completely nuts over Mimi.

 _Perhaps I could take a picture, to show her…no, but then, how would I explain where I saw the dog? I can't tell her about Yukizome-sensei, can I? Argh,_ _why can't I just relax?_

Feeling the stress build up, I rubbed at my head and tried to focus. With the exception of when we'd been talking about the garden, we'd hardly strayed onto dangerous territory. _And yet…_

"So, I suppose you must all be quite hungry, so how about we have lunch now?" Munakata suggested eventually. "It's all ready and everything, it just needs serving."

"Sounds good to me." Noriko said.

"Yeah, that's alright."

"Hey, Kyosuke, let me help! Please?" Chisa asked plaintively. Munakata and Sakakura exchanged a look, and Sakakura gave a long-suffering sigh before he got up.

"Sure, Yuki." He said as he went to Yukizome's wheelchair and started to push it out of the room. We all stared at them go.

"In truth, it's not so much helping as it is 'helping'." Munakata closed his eyes for a brief moment, and sighed.

"Though it does not seem right to say that." He added resignedly after he'd opened his eyes again.

"What's the difference?" Noriko asked.

"There's a _lot_ of difference." I suddenly found myself saying. "Trust me, I know, I-"

I paused, as I realised that I was basically comparing Yukizome to a small child. Specifically, my small child. _That's not right._ She was childlike now, but still… _how do I do this?_

"Akamine-tan?" Masashi asked, looking at me in concern. I shook my head and shrugged.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter." I rubbed my forehead again, feeling something like a headache come on. I closed my other fist around the rose petal and put my hands in my lap carefully.

For a few more moments, we all sat in silence-it seemed that even the chattiest amongst us didn't know what to say. Then, as if consulting an unseen timer, Munakata nodded to himself and got up.

"Now would be a good time to go to the dining room." He decided.

"Um, actually…"

We all stopped to stare at Hokuto, who was reddening slightly as she refused to completely look at us.

"I don't think….I can stay for lunch…I…"

"Ho-Chi? Are you okay?" Wakana asked immediately.

"Oh? Do you not feel well?" Munakata asked at the same time. Hokuto shrugged and nodded.

"You drove here, didn't you? How will you get home?" he asked

"I don't know…."

 _Escape._

"I'll come with you." I offered. "You can't wander around on your own, Ho-Chi."

Hokuto looked up at me, eyes glittering unreadably.

"I….you don't want to stay?"

 _Yes. No. I don't know._

"It's fine, really. Guys, are you okay with this?" I checked. They'd said it was fine for me to try and leave if I couldn't when we'd been discussing this on Monday night, so I was sure it'd apply for any of us, but even so.

"Of course. Will you be able to make it home yourselves?" Akira asked.

"I'm sure we'll manage between the two of us." I offered when it was clear that Hokuto wasn't going to answer.

"If you don't, text us wherever you end up, okay?" Masashi ordered. I mustered up a smile and nodded at him in agreement.

"Alright, I'll let you two out before we go." Munakata said.

After a couple of see-you-laters, the two of us left the living room and went to put our shoes on. Munakata waited silently, and then he opened the door for us.

"Thanks for coming, anyway. Chisa was pleased to see you." He told us just as we stepped out.

"I…tell her we're sorry we couldn't stay for long."

"Chisa'll understand." Munakata said. "Stay safe, now."

"Bye." Hokuto said.

He closed the door, and we both stared at it for a moment. _Ah, I can breathe again now. But…._

"I….he totally saw through me, huh?" Hokuto spoke up eventually, voice dull.

I just nodded, because of course, she was right. _There's no way to win, with this._

"Let's just go." I told her tiredly.

And so, we did.


	33. Visit, part 2

**Early update because apart from extra hours at work earlier on in the week, I really wasn't that busy this week at all. Strange, but good for this fic, I guess =D Admittedly, this chapter is a bit on the short side, but that's because I decided that where this chapter ends was the best place to cut it off. Making it longer would have just made it flow weird.**

 **Anyway, on with the chapter!**

* * *

 _Hokuto_

The moment we left, I felt awful.

As we walked down the road, neither of us said anything. I couldn't tell what she might be thinking or feeling, since she was a little ahead of me and so I couldn't see her face, but she did seem to be deep in thought, and I noticed she seemed to be holding onto something in her hands, though I couldn't see what that object was either.

After a few moments, Chieko slowed to a stop, and looked around her.

"Chieko-Chan?" I asked, coming up next to her. She frowned, and didn't respond for a moment. Then:

"I'm just trying to figure out which way we came. I was looking out of the window, but of course it looks a bit different when you're coming in the opposite direction…and a different mode of transport, to boot."

"Ah, I see."

"We'll be alright if we can get to the main road, find the bus stop." Chieko continued.

"Were you _memorising_ the route here?" I asked incredulously. She turned and looked directly at me, and I realised her expression was very, very tired.

"Not consciously, no." she answered. Then, she started to walk again, and this time, I remained next to her as we continued on in silence for a little while longer.

"Too many memories, huh?"

It took me a moment to realise that Chieko had actually said anything, and I stared for a moment, not quite processing the question.

"Back there." Chieko patiently clarified. "With Yukizome-sensei."

"Ah, oh yeah. It was just…." I sighed. "I just kept seeing those scenes, of when she was…you know. "

Chieko nodded, but waited for me to go on.

"Even though she's living, and she was right there and looking…well, alive, I just kept seeing what happened back then, so clearly I could barely see her right now. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah. I kept comparing her to who she was before, in those first two weeks. And…it feels so bad to say, but she just kept coming up short." Chieko admitted.

"Yeah….." I trailed off, not knowing what to say. What could I have done? It was selfish, making the consequences of her suffering all about me, and my feelings, even if I'd seen the cause of the way she was now first hand, even if that had become part of my own suffering. _Ah, I hate this, I hate this._

"We tried, though, right?" I asked. "We tried."

"That we most certainly did." She agreed softly.

At that moment, we came up to a crossing, and so the conversation halted once again as we waited and looked to make sure it was safe to cross. Once we had crossed over, we walked down the street.

"Oh!" I had an epiphany. "I just realised, what will we do when we get back? We don't have keys."

Chieko gave me a goggle-eyed look.

"That…that's a good question. I don't think any of us thought of that…" She admitted eventually. "Well…"

She trailed off for a minute, deep in thought, and then looked around at the different shops.

"Why don't we get lunch ourselves?" she suggested eventually. "Given that we're not going to be having lunch there."

 _Ah, yes, lunch. That's a thing._ I nodded at that, looking around me and trying to figure out what seemed like a decent place to eat.

"Alright." I said as I did this, realising a response was needed from me. We walked further down the street, past the bus-stop we would have used if we were going to go straight back, and looked around, nothing catching our eye particularly, though we did lightly debate it. There was a sandwich shop on the other side though, which seemed like it'd be at least halfway decent, so we went to the next crossing so that we could take a closer look.

And then we heard the laughter.

" _Upupu….ah, you know what, sod it! You've got me, I don't really need to pretend to be a bear!" Monobear's voice suddenly changed as he tipped his head back and started to laugh manically._

" _Ahahahaha! Oh, now it's time for the clichéd reveal! Are you ready for it? Ahahaha."_

 _A dramatic smoke cloud appeared behind his throne suddenly, and we could see a silhouetted figure half-concealed in it, coming closer to us, a noticeably female figure. With her, the sounds of the new laughter and a pair of extremely pointy heels came closer to us. Eventually, the smoke died down, and the woman's appearance was revealed._

" _Woah, wait, what, you're actually that old supermodel lady?!" Masashi spluttered before I could take in her appearance._

" _Of course I am!" the woman who was undeniably Junko Enoshima said haughtily,as she bent down to pick up Monobear and sit on the throne herself._

" _What, you still_ really _think that this thing was the one to orchestrate all of this?"_

 _Holding up Monobear, she tipped her head up slightly to regard us haughtily, but soon dissolved into another round of raucous laughter._

"That…..That's not…" I spun around, wildly, looking. Enoshima couldn't be here, could she? She'd _died_. She'd been crushed to death.

"Oh come on, you're not serious!" the laughter came again, and this time I saw a short, dumpy young woman across the road, strolling along and laughing into her phone. Definitely not Junko Enoshima, even putting aside the small detail of Enoshima being dead, but even so…. _I can't breathe._

"Ho-Chi?"

I could hear Chieko, and when I turned back I could see her too, but she looked and sounded distant. I opened my mouth to answer, but only a shaky breath came out. _I can't breathe…._ I'd left Yukizome's house to escape, and now, I needed to escape again. But I couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, couldn't move.

"Come on."

Chieko pulled at my hand, dragging me away, and I felt my legs start to move, but it felt like I was viewing it from a distance, as the colours of the street seemed to blur. I let her drag me for a while, until eventually we stopped.

"Sit, Ho-Chi." Chieko told me, pushing gently at my shoulders until I sat on what felt like a brick wall, and instantly tried to catch my breath. And eventually, I felt myself pull back together. Heavily, I looked back up and around me, to see Chieko sitting on the same brick wall that I was sitting on, hands folded in her lap, expression carefully blank as she looked across the road.

"You okay now?" Chieko asked quietly once she noticed

"Yeah, I guess." I shrugged, embarrassed. "Sorry."

"No, no." Chieko shook her head, and then sighed. "It sounded like her, huh?"

I just nodded. I didn't want to give the memory words, or more power than it'd already had over me. _Ugh. I think I've moved on, but then something like this happens._ Sighing, I rubbed my head.

"Are you okay, Chieko-Chan?" I asked.

She didn't respond initially, just looked across the road again, before she sighed again.

"Yeah….yeah. That was a bit of a shock, but really? If it isn't one thing, it'd probably be another…"

"Well, that's heartening." I deadpanned.

At that, Chieko looked back at me, and smiled, shaking her head slightly. I pulled a face at her, and then really took in our surroundings.

"Uh…. _where_ are we?"

…

 _Akira_

Lunch was noodles, with a variety of different sides, for us to serve ourselves as we wanted, all laid out on the large table. Glasses of water were all also filled and left at each of the different seats.

"Oh, looks good. Is this just like a buffet?" Wakana asked as we sat down.

"Yes, it is." Munakata nodded, heading over to where Yukizome sat, at one end of the table, waiting expectantly. "Please, help yourself."

"Cool!" Noriko said approvingly as we all did just that. Munakata unfolded a napkin sitting on the table, and tucked it around Yukizome's neck, like a bib, before he took Yukizome's plate and bowl, and filled them up.

"Yo, Munakata, want me to do yours?" Sakakura asked, pointing at his untouched plate and bowl.

"No, it's fine, do your own." Munakata replied. Sakakura made a token huff before setting about piling up his own bowl and plate. The rest of us did the same, and then we waited for Munakata to finish with Yukizome and get his own food.

"Aren't you hungry?" Yukizome asked us plaintively while we were still waiting.

"Ah, we're waiting for everyone so we can start together, it's fine." Noriko responded immediately. Yukizome beamed at that.

"Then we can all eat together, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

At that moment, Munakata finally finished serving himself, and so once we'd all given thanks for the food, we tucked in. For a few moments, we were all silent, concentrating on eating.

"Oh, this is pretty good!" Noriko exclaimed eventually.

"I agree. Who made this?" Tyson asked.

"Sakakura did." Munakata said simply. Sakakura mock glared at him, reddening slightly.

"It's no big deal, it's just following instructions and chucking ingredients together according to those instructions. You should taste some of his cooking." Sakakura smirked, pointing at Munakata, who looked slightly embarrassed.

"Ah, I'm not that brilliant, not compare-"Munakata abruptly broke off, sneaking a glance at Yukizome, who was oblivious, concentrating on scooping up and slurping noodles. Wakana let out an audible sigh, but none of us mentioned the comparison. It was true, after all. Yukizome probably would have outdone the both of them.

"The important thing is that Chisa likes the food we make." Munakata hurriedly said, to cover up the moment.

"Me?" Chisa looked up, asking the question with her mouth still half-full.

"Chew and swallow before speaking, Chisa." Munakata reminded gently. "But yes, you. Are you enjoying the food?"

Yukizome seemed about to answer, but then remembered to swallow before answering with a big grin and nod.

"Yep!"

"That's good."

"I don't suppose you'd give me said recipes, would you, Sakakura, sir?" Tyson asked.

"I see you still do the whole sir, ma'am thing." Sakakura raised an eyebrow. "But sure, whatever. You cook Japanese food back home?"

"From time to time, if I'm so inclined." Tyson shrugged. "I'd like to know a few more recipes, in any case."

"Sure, whatever." Sakakura looked incredibly perplexed by this for whatever reason. I bit back a smile, and also made a note to give Tyson one of my cookbooks to take home when we got back. I had many already, I wouldn't miss one of them.

"In any case, I didn't get a chance to ask any of you what you've been doing over the past seven years? I know about Kazama-kun, more or less, but not really any of you." Munakata asked.

"There's not really much to say about me, I've just become a bus driver. It's kinda meh, but it pays the bills, and it isn't too bad." Masashi shrugged.

Munakata nodded at that, and then listened to Tyson talk about his shop, and Noriko talk about her DNA-testing business for a little while. Wakana mentioned her music briefly, talking about an upcoming concert her orchestra was working towards. And though of course they knew about my job, I shared a couple of vaguely interesting office anecdotes.

"What about the others?" Munakata asked. "Akamine-san and Nanto-san?"

"Akamine-tan's in university right now, she's training to become an elementary school teacher." Masashi answered almost immediately.

While this was true, I gave Masashi a sideways look that he didn't seem to notice. _Why so fast, and bright about it?_ I mentally shrugged and let it go after a moment of puzzlement-it didn't seem to be a big deal.

"And Ho-Chi's running her parents' café with her little sister." Noriko added after a moment. "They renamed it, to Café Tanabata."

"I see." Munakata nodded. There was a moment of silence as he appeared to consider this, and we all returned to concentrating on eating.

"You've built good lives, you have." Munakata's conclusion came after another few long moments. My mouth was full, so I couldn't answer.

"Uh, thanks, I guess?" Masashi responded, clearly confused.

"It's true, though." Munakata said calmly. "Right, Sakakura?"

"Psh, yeah." Sakakura replied simply.

 _Good lives, huh?_ It seemed an easy conclusion to come to, when the information everyone had provided was really basic. No mention of the struggles and the pain that we all still experienced in different ways. No mention of nightmares, or flashbacks, or of staying up all night, or survivors' guilt, or anything. Of course our lives looked good, stripped of those details. Yet, wasn't the assessment still true anyway, in spite of these things? I could not presume to know what the others thought of their own lives, whether they were satisfied, or wishing for something different, or hating every second of it. But my life, my own life? I wasn't sure if I deserved it a lot of the time, but it was still a good one, that I had built, even in spite of everything else. Possibly even because of it-because what would be the point of still being here?

"You've all built a good life, too." Wakana responded eventually. "I can see it here."

Noriko made a baffled noise, and we all stared at her, but she simply looked at Munakata, awaiting a reply. He and Sakakura were both visibly surprised, but then Sakakura laughed and shook his head.

"Thanks, kid."

He laughed again, awkward but sincere, and looked over at Munakata, who had turned his attention to helping Yukizome cut up some of her food. I followed his gaze, and watched for a moment. And then I realised, why Wakana had said it: because they had needed to hear it too.

…

 _Chieko_

When Hokuto had asked the question, I realised that I didn't actually know exactly where we were. We hadn't gone that far, so it probably wouldn't be too difficult to get back again, but I hadn't been focusing on my surroundings too closely, given Hokuto looked to be in the middle of a panic attack. I knew how awful that would be, and I didn't want her to be around so many people, a good number of which who would have stared (and probably _were_ from the moment we heard the laughter). So honestly, I'd just reacted without really thinking.

"I'm not too sure, but it shouldn't be too difficult to find our way back…."

"Oh, that's good." Hokuto said. "Especially since we're sitting outside someone's house."

"That we most certainly are." I responded wryly.

There was a pause as we both let this information settle, neither one of us trying to make a move to get back up again. Eventually, Hokuto sighed.

"Let's just sit here for a while. Doesn't look like anyone's home, and if they are, we'll clear off. Fair enough, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." I shrugged. Internally, I let out a sigh of relief. I didn't really feel like expending more energy, not right now. I wasn't exactly worn out, but it felt like I was getting close to it. It would be good to wait a few moments.

And so we did, sitting in silence, watching what was going on around us (which amounted to little more than a few cars going past), until said silence was broken by the sound of a stomach rumbling. Simultaneously, we both looked down at our own stomachs, and laughed when we realised that we were both the culprits.

"Yup, time to go." Hokuto decided, getting up. Her colour had come back, and she seemed bouncy again, which was a relief for me.

I followed suit, and then just as we were about to walk down the street, a rental van drove past, which wouldn't have been anything particularly special, except that it slowed down as it got to the house that we were outside of. Since the space there was empty, it parked there, and then a young man got out of the driver's side, and a woman who seemed a similar age to the man climbed out of the passenger side.

For whatever reason, this made me pause and watch, and Hokuto seemed curious too, so we watched as they both went to the back of the van and opened it, taking boxes out and stacking them on the pavement, talking in a mixture of Japanese and a foreign language that I couldn't quite place. It took a few moments for either of them to notice us.

"Hi….um, sorry, are you…?" the woman asked in Japanese, regarding us uncertainly.

"Huh?" Hokuto blinked, then comprehension dawned. "Oh, no, no. We were just passing and I…uh, had a bit of a dizzy spell so we kinda just monopolised your front wall…is this your house?"

"Yes, it is... But, a dizzy spell, are you okay? Do you need…Yuuya, do we have any bottles of water?"

"Oh, no, no, it's fine." Hokuto waved her hands. "Really, I'm fine now. Though, I don't suppose you could give us directions?"

The woman frowned, and exchanged a look with her husband.

"Well," the man offered. "We've actually been living in Germany, it's our first time back here in over three years, so we might not know, but we can try."

"Oh, it's a sandwich shop, can't remember the name of it-Chieko-Chan, do you?"

When I shook my head, Hokuto continued attempting to describe what the shop front looked like, and eventually, after the couple had a quick conversation, the woman turned to answer us.

"Oh, I think we drove past there. So, if…." The woman then proceeded to give us some loose directions, peppered with hesitation. Still, at least it was something.

"Thanks." Hokuto told them.

"Yeah, thanks." I said.

"Oh, that's fine. Hope you manage to find the place okay!" the man said. The woman nodded but didn't say anything anymore, suddenly looking wistful for some reason. I felt a tug of sympathy and curiosity, but even so did not dwell on it as Hokuto and I walked away in the direction the woman had indicated.

In a few moments, we were back on the same street we had started, and this time we managed to cross and reach the shop with no disasters. _Ah, thank goodness._ I didn't think I could handle another Enoshima-laugh-alike, or anything of that sort.

I looked down at my hand, expecting to see the rose petal there. _Oh, it's gone._ I wondered when I'd let go of it, but I supposed it didn't matter too much. Yet, for some reason, I wish I had noticed it.

"Hey, you okay?"

I blinked, and looked at Hokuto.

"Yeah. Now, how about we actually try and get some lunch? At this rate, the others will finish." I said lightly, forcing a smile. To my relief, Hokuto grinned back.

"Sounds like a plan!"


	34. Visit, part 3

**It's a bit cheeky for me to be calling this 'Visit, part 3' when most of this chapter is technically post-visit but what the hell, it saves me from thinking of a chapter title this week :)**

 **Anyway, on with the chapter.**

* * *

 _Noriko_

"Well, I think we really should be going now." Akira said a while later.

"Ehh, really?" Yukizome asked, pouting. "Couldn't you stay a little longer? Just a little?"

"Ah, come on, Yuki, they've been here for ages." Sakakura pointed out, causing Yukizome to turn her head and glare at him so viciously I couldn't help but giggle.

"Unfortunately, we do have to go now, but it was nice to see you, Yukizome-sensei." Wakana piped up.

"Yes, I agree!" Tyson confirmed.

"How about we see them off, Chisa?" Munakata suggested. Chisa looked at him, the glare fading as she pursed her lips and considered. Then, she nodded slowly.

"Okay then!"

"I'll hang back. But it was good to see you kids, don't get me wrong." Sakakura said, getting up to leave the room.

"Yes, sure. Bye, Sakakura-sempai." Akira said.

Mimi the dog leaped off Yukizome's lap and padded over to follow him, prompting a grumpy conversation with the dog that I couldn't quite decipher as they went further away. I chuckled to myself as we made sure we had our bits and pieces with us and went to put our shoes on. Once we had done that, Munakata opened the door for us before letting us go first, wheeling Yukizome down the ramp behind us, and stopping once they reached the bottom, while we headed across the road to get into Akira's car.

"Come again soon, guys!" Yukizome called out. "Okay? Come soon!"

"I'll come visit when I can." Akira called. "And I'll bring Masa-san too, if you like."

"Oi, don't randomly volunteer me for a thing." Masashi retorted. "But yes, I'll come too."

I was about to say that I would come too, but then I paused. Would I? I knew I wanted to, but whether that would translate practically, I wasn't sure. _But still, I want to keep connected._ Today had been great-I hadn't quite realised how much I missed Yukizome. Even if she wasn't the teacher from back then, the one I knew and revered anymore, she was still Yukizome. _I want to stay connected,_ I thought again, as I paused in front of the car door and looked back at Yukizome, sitting in her wheelchair in front of her rose-surrounded door, Munakata standing behind her, protective.

"Noriko-Chan, aren't you getting into the car?" Wakana asked from behind me. Momentarily, I ignored her.

"Yukizome-sensei?" I called out. "Shall I write to you? Would you like that?"

Yukizome tilted her head for a moment, forehead scrunching as she considered this, and then she beamed.

"Yes please!" she replied, voice full of laughter.

"Then, I'll do that." I promised. "Bye, Yukizome-sensei!"

Then, I got into the car, Wakana got in behind me, and climbed in next to Tyson right at the back, while I scooted over to the other side. Once we were ready and seat belted, Akira lifted a hand in farewell to Munakata before starting to drive, turning the car around so that we could go back in the direction we had come.

I looked out of the window, kept my eyes on Munakata and Yukizome for as long as was possible before they were out of sight. And for all that time, Yukizome was smiling and waving.

 **…**

Masashi

Chieko and Hokuto were waiting outside the sandwich store they'd had lunch in-which some _genius_ had decided to name Sandwich Shop-and when they spotted the car, Chieko smiled while Hokuto waved wildly at us.

But still, I could see some sort of shadow around them, around the smiles and apparent easy movements. More in Chieko, but I had to admit that was because I was a tiny bit biased, a bit more invested in anything that happened where she was concerned. Even so, I could see it, and it worried me.

"Are you okay now, Hokuto-Chan?" Wakana asked before I could say anything.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, I'm fine." Hokuto said breezily.

"You sure?" I pressed, not quite accepting it as I twisted around to look at them. "What about you, Akamine-tan?"

"Me?"

Having just shut the car door behind her, Chieko hesitated as she was about to sit down properly.

"Yup." I said simply, waiting.

"Yeah, I guess. Why?" she asked carefully.

"Oh, no reason." I said airily, too airily. _What's wrong?_

"Hmm."

Chieko settled back down, put on her seatbelt, and then Akira started to drive again.

"So, do we need to stop off to pick Shizuka up?" Akira asked after a moment.

"Hmm," Chieko considered. "What time is it?"

"Just after three." Akira told her.

"In that case, no, let's go back, I'll get her a little later." Chieko decided after a pause that seemed entirely too long.

"That's fine." Akira told her.

For the rest of the journey, we just chatted about other things. But every time I turned around, I found myself looking over Chieko, seeing those shadows, and wondering what they were.

 **…**

Back at his house, Akira went to change, Tyson grabbed a book and sat in the living room to read it while Noriko and Hokuto curled up to chat on the three seater, and Wakana went to get a glass of water.

"Whatcha gonna do now, Akamine-tan?" I asked Chieko, who was hovering by the stairs, looking tired. She blinked at me, giving me a long, long stare.

"I…I'm kinda tired. "She confessed eventually.

"Why?" I pressed. "Did something happen?"

There was another long pause, and Chieko half-shrugged.

"Too much remembering today, I guess."

 _Ueda-tan?_ I supposed it had to be. After all, seeing what had happened to Yukizome was basically the reason that Koutarou had ended up killing in the first place, risking Chieko's safety for another loved one. I wondered how that had sat with him, how he'd managed to square it even though he loved her, because he _must_ have loved her, rig- _Masa, you fucking doughnut, get ahold of yourself!_ I puffed out a breath and ignored the odd look that Chieko was giving me.

"So, you going to take a nap?" I asked casually.

"Yeah, sort of."

Under different circumstances, I would have asked what the hell a 'sort of' nap was. Surely either you napped or you didn't? Here, I just smiled, tried not to look like I was worrying.

"Sounds like a plan."

"It's okay, I'll be up to get Shizuka."

 _So much for not looking like I was worrying._ Though, I hadn't even thought about the possibility of her not picking up Shizuka, which made a new flame of alarm jump up.

"Why don't you let me go get her?" I suggested quickly. "You take a longer nap, then make sure you're up when we come back?"

Chieko just stared at me, blinking slowly, when Wakana appeared.

"Oh, has something happened? Chieko-Chan, are you okay?" Wakana seemed to not see me as she went right up to Chieko, worried look on her face.

"Yeah, I am." Chieko tried to reassure her. "Tired, a little. That's all."

"Then, sleep a little. Come, I'll take you up."

Wakana put a hand on Chieko's shoulder, gently steered her to go up the stairs, and they both went up. I watched them go, for a moment thinking of the million little moments in the game after Koutarou had died where Wakana had been the one to do this, gather her up and steer her towards or away, depending on what was needed. I kind of envied it, but not that much. Even if the basic concept-caring- was the same, my need to help her came from a different place, so of course I'd have a different way of doing it.

So once they had gone, I turned right around and burst into the living room.

"What the hell happened, Nanto-tan?!"

Hokuto gawped at me, and Noriko looked just as astonished. Tyson looked up from his book and blinked, but his expression gave nothing away when I glanced briefly at him.

"With Akamine-tan!" I bit back on swearing. Part of me knew it wasn't fair to her, that nothing was her fault and that it was not her I was frustrated at. _But still…_

"Something must have happened!" I shouted.

"No, nothing did…" Hokuto started, but I cut her off.

"Oh, come on, Nanto-tan, _something_ must have. You were both tense when we came to pick you up at the Sandwich Shop, and now Akamine-tan's retreated! What happened?"

"Chieko-Chan's retreated? What do you mean?" Noriko asked curiously. I just glared. _What the bloody flip do you_ think _I mean by that?_

"Nothing happened, so much. It was some random woman, a passer-by while we were going to find somewhere to eat." Hokuto burst out.

"A random woman? What did she do?" I demanded.

"Nothing!" Hokuto protested. I glared at her again, and she rolled her eyes.

"For God's sake, she didn't do anything deliberately. She was just on her phone, gossiping to a friend or something, and she laughed and well….I guess she kinda sounded like Enoshima."

At that, my breath stopped for a moment.

" _Parents turning against child, brother against sister, friends against friends, lovers against lovers, all authority gone corrupt, all against this vast backdrop of fire and destruction! How wonderfully despairing, right?"_

 _Enoshima laughed and laughed as she narrated the scenes she was showing on the screen, aiming her remote at it to change it again and again, though it was pointless, really. All of them were more or less the same. They all showed the world's end._

" _There's no fucking way that's real!" I called out._

" _Oh, but it is!" Enoshima giggled, almost girlishly. "And guess who's responsible?!"_

 _None of us answered, as given she'd been going on about it for the past however long, the answer was pretty obvious. But she seemed to find our lack of response funny anyway, because she just started to laugh again._

" _But look at all that, all that despair! You can't get it out of your mind anymore, can you? All the destruction and carnage…oooh! Still, can't picture you enjoying it in a hurry! Which of course is all the fun of it! But, still, really? Do you really still want to leave knowing that this is what waits for you?"_

 _She paused to wave the remote at the screens, as if we didn't know what she was on about._

" _Do you_ really _want to go?"_

"And?" I pressed, pretending that I hadn't thought of anything, that my focus was only on the here and now. I was starting to feel a little crappy.

" _I_ was the one who freaked out, and _Chieko-Chan_ was the one who managed to lead me somewhere quiet until I'd calmed down." Hokuto went red. "We waited around a little, asked for directions back to the shop, and then went to have lunch. And then you picked us up, that was all."

"Oh." Deflated, my shoulders sagged. "That's…why not just mention it?"

 _You fucktard, Masa!_

"Why?" Hokuto asked, rubbing the back of her head. I waited, and she continued.

"It wasn't really as if anything happened. It was just an embarrassment, I wanted to forget about it. Oh, and where Chieko-Chan is concerned, I didn't think that she'd take it badly. For crying out loud she's the one who helped me. I mean, she agreed with me, it did sound like Enoshima, but still."

"Maybe it took longer to get to her?" Tyson spoke up. When we all stared at him, he shrugged.

"Sorry, I know this isn't my conversation. But perhaps she was alright at the time, and now it's just got to her? I noticed she looked a little tired too. And between any Enoshima-specific flashbacks and any memories today's visit brought up, it's easy to understand. "He said.

"What does visiting Yukizome-sensei have to do with anything?" Noriko wanted to know.

"Because as nice as it was to see her, it was a little hard to separate the memories from the present, you know?" Hokuto said, reddening again when we all looked at her. _Ah,_ I thought, _I get it now._ Suddenly, I felt _more_ than a little crappy.

"Sorry, Nanto-tan."

"It's alright." Hokuto shrugged. "You were coming from a good place."

"Nah, I was a shithead. Seriously, sorry." I insisted.

"And seriously, apology accepted." Hokuto insisted just as strongly.

We stared at each other for a moment, and that's when Akira came back down and looked around the door.

"Um….is everything okay?" he asked, taking the scene in.

"Nah, we're fine…?"

I looked over at Hokuto, still unsure, but she nodded at me reassuringly. Akira nodded uncertainly, and then sighed.

"Well, I'm going out into the garden for a cigarette, so if you need me you know where to find me."

"Alright then." I said.

Akira left quietly, and almost immediately afterwards, Wakana showed up, taking the scene in in much the same way that Akira had. Realising I looked like a bit of a lemon just randomly standing in the middle of the room, I went to sit down as well.

"How's Akamine-tan?" I asked immediately.

"She's as fine as she can be." Wakana turned an understanding smile at me. "She's asleep right now."

"Asleep?" Hokuto raised an eyebrow, even though she looked concerned. Wakana looked over at her. I expected Wakana to ask her if anything had happened, but she didn't. Instead:

"Yeah, I'm thinking that today was pretty emotionally heavy for her, especially considering…"

Wakana trailed off, and then shook her head. I wondered if she'd come to the same conclusion I had, that for Chieko, the whole thing had brought up memories of Koutarou, but I didn't dare ask.

"It was just kind of sad, wasn't it?" Wakana said instead. "So much lost."

"Yup." I agreed awkwardly.

There was a silence for a little while, and we all looked at each other, not sure what to say. I yawned, thought of Chieko sleeping. If this was the way her body coped with it all, I wondered if her sleep was ever peaceful.

"Oh yeah, Kita-Chan, Chieko-Chan mentioned that you said you'd pick up Shizuka-did you mean it?" Wakana asked.

"Of course!" I said, mock-offended. "Let her rest."

"I thought so. You care about her a lot." Wakana observed.

"He really does!" Hokuto chimed. I gave her a death glare. _You promised._ Of course, she seemed to cheerfully ignore it, just grinning at me.

"Well, don't we all?" Tyson, thankfully, saved the day as he put aside his book and reengaged with the conversation.

"That is true." Noriko agreed.

"Yeah, it is." Wakana agreed. "But anyway, Kita-Chan, she also asked if you'd pop in and tell her before you go. When are you going, anyway?"

"I thought maybe if I aimed to get there around five?" I shrugged, looking up at the clock. "So in a little while. Why?"

"She definitely wants to be awake before Shizuka-Chan arrives, that's all." Wakana said.

"Why?" Noriko wanted to know.

"You dipshit, why do you think?" I retorted, though not harshly.

At that point, Tyson quickly changed the subject, and the others started to talk about whatever new topic it was-I wasn't paying too much attention. I was too busy thinking about Chieko, wondering if she was really okay, and hoping that she would be.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

I dreamed. Fractured images, jumbled sounds, conflicting feelings, all of it about back then. I dreamed, in fits and starts, no real order to it, no sense to any of it even though every single scene was something I had lived through and experienced already. But then again, the fact none of the scenes made sense made some sick sense in itself-after all, what, exactly, about the fact we'd been kidnapped and had our memories wiped before being forced into that game made sense? But even so. I dreamed, and it didn't make sense. Spiralling, spinning, the dreams continued, fuelled by something I couldn't name.

Half-awakening suddenly, I wearily turned over, and found myself groggily opening my eyes, looking at the empty space of the bed. Alone, it seemed so large, and the floor and door beyond that seemed so far away. Hesitantly, I reached out and touched the pillow next to me. _Ah, I want to be held._ If only that moment could be isolated from everything else that had happened around it. _If only…._ Somehow, I summoned the energy to grip the pillow, and then I dragged it to me, wrapping my arms around it, holding it to my middle. It was not the same thing as being curled up, held by Koutarou, feeling safe for just a brief moment, but at least now I was a little more solid. I could grab onto the sensation and perhaps I wouldn't be spiralling out of control in my dreams. I closed my eyes again, and willed it to be true.

A few moments, and another, and as I felt myself sink into sleep again, it remained dark behind my eyes. Dark, and quiet. But just as I let out a long breath, ready to relax, there was a sound. A knocking, insistent and loud. _No, just let me sleep,_ I begged whatever memory it was. But then, I paused.

 _Wait, that's real, isn't it?_

With a quiet groan, I opened my eyes and rubbed at them.

"Yes?" I called out, as I attempted to sit up.

"It's me." _Ah, that's Kita-kun's voice._

"Oh. Right. Erm….do you want to come in?" I asked uncertainly.

There was a moment's silence, before the door opened a fraction, and Masashi's head poked around, his expression wary. He didn't come in though, and seemed a little stiff from what I could see of him.

"I, uh, Abe-tan said you wanted to know when I was going to pick up Shizuka-tan?"

I blinked, my mind clearing a little. _Shizuka…_

"Oh, right. You're sure you're fine with going?" I asked him. "I'm sorry to be such a trouble."

"No, no, it's fine!" Masashi said hurriedly. He seemed to hesitate, before he pushed open the door a little more, and stepped in, still a little too stiff and careful and…. _is he blushing?_ I squinted, and then decided it was my imagination.

"Akamine-tan, are you 100% sure you're alright?" he asked me, oh-so-serious.

"No, not 100%. But I will be." This much, I still knew.

"That's good. I…um, I'm sorry things were so heavy for you today." Masashi blurted out. "Is there anything I can do to make it easier for you?"

"I….Kita-kun….." I stared at him, touched. Considering the question for a moment, I eventually shook my head.

"No. There'll always be times when things are too heavy. I just have to sludge through it, somehow. But just knowing you are here, and the others are here, that helps. Not to mention how you're going to get Shizuka….speaking of which…"

"Yeah?" Masashi asked curiously.

"Don't tell Shizuka. That I was sleeping, I mean." I clarified. "I'll definitely be up and about by the time you two get back. But don't….don't tell her."

"Of course." Masashi nodded earnestly. "Well, I'll be off then, Akamine-tan."

"Sure. Thanks, Kita-kun."

I waited until he'd gone before lying back down again. Grabbing the other pillow once again, I turned back over so I wasn't looking at the vast empty space, and I closed my eyes. I'd stay like this for just a little moment longer, and then I'd return to the waking world.

 **…**

 _Masashi_

It occurred to me a little too late that Sakura would be expecting Chieko at the door, and not me. _Oh well,_ I sighed, _it's a little late now._ With no way to phone ahead or anything, and almost at the front gate anyway, I shrugged and did my best to continue walking like someone who was supposed to be there, and I rung the bell.

I heard it echoing distantly inside the house, and the sounds of childish laughter and chaos following it. Then, after a moment, the door opened, and Sakura stared at me, carrying Ayame, who stared at me curiously. Wondering if she recognised me, I pulled a silly face at her, and she giggled, pulling a silly face of her own in return, which pleased me probably more than it should have. Sakura smiled at her, then looked at me.

"Hello, Kita-san. I'm guessing you're here for Shizuka-Chan? Is Akamine-san alright?" surprisingly, Sakura did not look surprised, just slightly curious and possibly concerned.

"I, yeah, uh…." I trailed off, and shrugged, feeling as silly as hell. Sakura studied me carefully for a moment before nodding, as if she'd somehow seen the answer in me.

"Well, they've been pretty busy today, and I'm afraid they're all quite messy, I'll just go and get her-"

"Masa-san!"

Sakura was cut off by Shizuka appearing behind her, eyes bright and hair messy, splatters of paint over her t-shirt and Yosa in her arms. She looked pleased to see me, but her gaze drifted to behind me, and I could tell she was looking for Chieko.

"Where's Mummy?" she asked, confirming I was indeed right.

"She's at home." I said carefully.

"Oh. Is she tired?" she asked curiously.

"A little bit." I hedged. _That's not telling, is it?_ Shizuka frowned at me for a moment, but seemed to shrug it off.

"Oh, okay. It's okay, I'm glad you came." She told me. "Is it time to go back now?"

"Yes, it is. Are you ready to?"

"No, not really, I'm still having fun." Shizuka sighed heavily. "But it's okay, we can go home, I don't mind."

I had to hold back the laughter at that one, and looking at Sakura, I could see that she was reacting in much the same way.

"Well, that's good then." I managed to say with a reasonably straight face.

"Yeah. Let me go say bye to Renge-Chan and Tsubaki-Chan first though?"

"Well, of course."

Shizuka ran off into what I assumed was the living room, and I heard her exchange a few words with the two girls, before she came out again, picked up the small pink backpack that was lying by the staircase, carefully put Yosa into it, then slip it on her back before going to put her shoes on and coming to me.

"Thanks for having her." I told Sakura.

"You're welcome, it was a pleasure. Will we be seeing her again before they leave?" she asked.

"I…perhaps, maybe." I shrugged. "You'd have to ask Akamine-tan."

"Then, I'll do that." Sakura nodded decided. "See you later then."

"Bye-bye!" Shizuka said.

"Bye, Shizuka-Chan." Sakura replied, before closing the door.

Shizuka took my hand and gripped it as we walked back to the front gate and started to make our way down the street.

"Looks like you've been busy today, huh?" I asked. "Did you do a lot of painting?"

"Yeah!" Shizuka looked down at herself. "We had aprons, but I still got messy anyway. Ayame-Chan was with us too, and she had paint all over her-Higuchi-san had to go and give her a bath afterwards!"

"Sounds like you should have used a hazmat suit or something." I replied, imagining the mess.

"What's a hazmat suit?" Shizuka asked quizzically.

"Oh, that's, uh….." I realised that I had no idea how exactly I'd explain what a hazmat suit was, even though I knew precisely what one was, so I just sighed.

"Never mind. Tell me more about what you all got up to." I said instead.

Shizuka was more than happy to do so, and for the next few moments, I listened to her talk about what she'd done with her two friends all day and how much fun she'd had, and all sorts of random details about Renge and Tsubaki and the house they lived in. It all made my head spin a little, but in a good way.

"Hey, Masa-san?" she asked eventually.

"Yeah?"

"What kind of tired is Mummy? Is she sleepy-tired or bored-tired or sad-tired?"

Shizuka looked up at me, and I blinked for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to proceed from here. Eventually, I decided to go with the age-old method of answering a question with a question.

"Why do you ask?"

"Mummy gets tired a lot, I think." She explained. "Mostly because she's busy-she's going to school to learn to be a teacher you know, because even teachers have to learn how to be teachers-and I know that because she yawns a lot. But sometimes when she's tired, she hasn't really been doing anything and she kind of looks like this."

Shizuka made a face that looked a lot like the face Chieko made from time to time, all too often in the days after Koutarou's death and one I'd spotted her making a few times now, while we were here. Including today, just before I'd left to come here. Though on Shizuka it was clearly carefully put on, the way a child's imitation of an adult's mannerisms tended to be, the distance in her eyes and the slightly pensive twist of her mouth was so very like Chieko that I had to remind myself it wasn't her.

"I see," I said slowly. "Are you worried about her feeling sad about something?"

"Maybe? I don't know?" Shizuka shrugged, looking confused. "I've been thinking about things since coming here."

Another mannerism lifted from observing an adult, but this time I had to stifle a laugh at how seriously she'd delivered the words.

"I see. Well, we were doing a lot of walking today, that's all. " _It's sort of true, I guess._

"Oh, so she's sleepy tired?" Shizuka asked, brightening.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Oh, okay then." She seemed satisfied with that for a moment, but then she frowned again.

"Are you _absolutely_ sure?" she pressed.

"I….Shizuka-tan, are you worried about something?" I asked. Shizuka just shrugged, suddenly looking embarrassed.

"The dead people. "She confessed after a moment. And vague as that statement was, I knew precisely what she was on about, and what she meant.

"Shizuka-tan, that's not for you to worry about, okay? " I said. "Even if one of them was your daddy. We're sad about it, but we're okay. It's alright."

"Because you find things to stop the sad?" Shizuka asked, looking at me curiously.

"Yeah, that's right." I said after thinking about it for a moment. "That's right."

"Hmm…okay. I'm still thinking about it all though."

"And that's fine too." I told her.

"Oh, okay." Shizuka nodded at that, and I sighed in relief. At that moment, we reached our road, and I hoped that Chieko would be up, like she said she would be. _Ah, it'll be fine, right?_ I'd tell Chieko that Shizuka had been asking these things for sure, it wouldn't be right not to, but even so, if we could make it so that she wasn't concerned anymore, then I'd be satisfied with that.

Shizuka didn't appear particularly pensive in the few steps it took to get to the front gate, which was a good sign, and she was bouncing absently as I searched for my keys to open the door. Once I had opened the door, she slipped in past me.

"We're back!" I called out. I went to take off my shoes, and Shizuka went to do the same.

And a moment later, Chieko came out of the living room. Shizuka spotted her immediately, and with one shoe still on, she rushed at her.

"Mummy!"

"Hi, Shizuka! Did you have fun today?" Chieko asked, hugging her and smiling softly, before reminding her to take off her other shoe. Shizuka complied happily, laughing when Chieko noticed the paint on her t-shirt and exclaimed about its messiness, and I watched as they went upstairs together, talking about making dinner together and other things.

 _There was a long silence as we all processed the question, looking at the screen and the images flittering across it._ That was what was happening outside? That? _It was crazy, freaking crazy. As if this entire mess hadn't been crazy enough as it was already. And yet._

" _Yes, we do."_

 _I turned, startled, to see that Chieko had answered. Her face was expressionless, and she gripped the stand tightly, but she looked right at Enoshima, and showed no sign of backing down._

" _Yes, we do want to get out."_

Chieko and Shizuka had disappeared up the stairs at this point, but I stayed a moment, smiling. _Yep, I knew she'd be fine._ I was glad to see it.

* * *

 **Wording wise, I think I ended that a little awkwardly, but moment wise, it seemed to be the right, well, moment to end it. Oh well, I can't have everything, I guess. I also wanted to include a couple of little flashbacks in Chieko's section, but again, I couldn't quite make them fit (or decide what scenes to have her flashback about, specifically). Still, for the most part I feel like this chapter turned out quite well :)**

 **So, yeah, hope you enjoyed it. And as always, please leave feedback!**


	35. Scraps of the Past 7

**I had my graduation ceremony on Thursday-I am now officially graduated from uni, whoooo :)**

 **Anyway, on with the chapter! It's a Scraps of the Past this week, but as always, I hope you like it !**

* * *

Rei Yamagawara had heard about this, this one rare time of the year when their common ground actually served to unite them, but she hadn't quite believed it. Yet here she was, at the joint cultural festival of Hope's Peak and Hope Valley High. She should have been happy about that, really.

Day after day of trudging to school, facing another stream of dull lessons in an old building while looking wistfully towards the tall beacon of Hope's Peak opposite them and bemoaning the gulf between them despite how close they were, this occasion was revered by Hope Valley High-they'd been preparing for months. And now it was a reality, she should have been happy.

But really, Rei wasn't happy at all.

 _Why are we keeping up the pretence? This is ridiculous._ Looking around her, she took her opportunity and left her class's stall, and mingled with the crowds, searching for that very distinctive set of ponytails somewhere in amongst them while she in such an integrative setting, it was clear which ones of them were the Hope's Peak students, and which ones 'mere' Hope Valley High students, not just because of the uniforms they wore, but the type of stalls they had on offer-unique, almost personalised things, not just the standard crepe stalls or haunted houses, but autograph signings (in the case of Oshiro, a book signing for some of his latest releases) and science-fair type demonstrations, as well as what appeared to be some sort of historical re-enactment going on, the combined efforts of Tyson and Erica.

When she got outside, she saw a variety of performances being held on different outdoor stages that had been set up for the event, as though this were a national festival rather than a school event. Amongst these, there was a rather striking performance by Wakana Abe and Heero, each of them somehow managing to blend their very different styles of music to create something that meshed well, that added to the happy atmosphere that the festival was trying to promote. That one, she had to admit to liking a lot-she'd been a fan of Heero's (or rather, Kimihiro's, since Hokuto had told her that this was his real name) since she'd been twelve, and she'd be damned if he hadn't literally been getting better and better. The music seemed to seep into her bones, buoy her up, and she had to check herself, so she wouldn't find herself skipping down the paths.

But that didn't matter. He was a Hope's Peak student, an SHSL. One of the elite. And the elite needed to be taken down. That was all that mattered.

That's what they said, after all. The five, these so-called Remnants of Despair. _Stupid name,_ she acknowledged. But the idea was not stupid. It was clear that they were being looked down upon-as Rei passed some of the crowds watching the Kimihiro/Wakana concert, a security guard glared at her suspiciously, as if she would suddenly blow something up or lash out to kill someone, the way her classmates had been arrested for-for no other reason than having attended the same school as them. Not that she thought they were justified in that, necessarily. To kill someone the way Mika had reportedly killed Kiku? That was just all sorts of awful. Rei had liked Kiku-she'd always helped her with English homework, and they chatted in class from time to time too. Rei missed her. So no, the killings and the bombings weren't right, she knew that deep down.

And yet Rei supposed she did support them, when it came down to things. Because with each day, as her fellow school members were glared at unjustifiably by security guards, and treated as criminals when they were victims too, as Hope's Peak visibly upped their security in terms of both personnel and building adjustments while Hope Valley High had to make do with little more than the paltry advice to 'always make sure someone knows where you're going' and 'don't travel alone' and 'tell an adult if you see something that worries you', she became angrier with them. As they made noises about the concerning state the school was falling into without offering to give them financial assistance, or to send some of their teachers there to teach, she found herself thinking the elite were little more than hollow, arrogant husks. As they claimed to care about them, as they claimed that yes, there was more to their connection than simple proximity, they also made sure to distance themselves, to make sure that their precious SHSLs would always be special, untainted by their ordinariness, she too began to think that maybe something really, really drastic had to be done in order to take them down a peg or two.

That was why she had joined them, even after her horror over The Wishing Tree bombing, her shock at finding out what happened to Kiku. That was why she had a Monobear pin in her pocket, carefully concealed in a hidden compartment, a sign of her allegiance to the new world order the Remnants of Despair promised would occur _. Means to an end_ , she told herself. It was repulsive, but necessary.

"Oh, there you are! I've been looking for you, my lovely!"

Suddenly, it was as if the crowds had cleared, and there she was. Hokuto, beaming at her, standing by a tree and holding two crepes in her hand, one partially eaten, the other pristine.

"H-hey, Ho-chi." _Hokuto, you idiot. Call her Hokuto now._ Against her better instincts, she blushed as she always did, which made Hokuto grin as she normally did.

"Sorry, my Rei of sunshine, I couldn't wait to find you before I started on my one-but don't worry, I haven't eaten yours, so it's all good! Anyway, let's go sit by the fountain to enjoy these-it's the only place that's even a little quiet today, and I'm guessing you've got a little bit of time before your class's stall know you're missing, right…?"

And so Hokuto went on as she spun away to lead Rei to the fountain she talked about, running fast enough and gleefully enough that Rei had trouble catching up with her. Once, she'd found that energy endearing. Now, all she could think that of course Hokuto could run that fast and gleefully, she didn't need to consider the ones who slowed down.

"Here we are! Sit, take a look! It's pretty, right? I've been wanting to bring you here for a while, but what with everything that's been going on….ah, but we're here, right?" Hokuto prattled as she took a bench. Rei said nothing, and looked around her.

Grudgingly, she had to admit, it was very pretty, the combination of the water, the intricacy of the fountain itself, and the arrangement of the benches around it, and even the carefully-tended to plants nearby. _It's almost….romantic,_ she thought, almost grinning at the fact that Hokuto had managed to find romance in something that wasn't related to the stars.

"Hey, are you okay?"

 _But that doesn't matter. That can't matter._

Rei blinked once, and stared stonily at Hokuto, who smiled at her, beatifically at first, but gradually wavering before sputtering out into confusion. _You're a Hope's Peak student, use your specialness to figure it out,_ she thought churlishly.

"A-ah…could it be, you're mad at me again?" Hokuto asked eventually. "But, why, my Rei of sunshine? You're the light of my life, what did I do this time?"

Rei remained stony, and tried to muster up the courage to just say what she needed to say, as she gritted her teeth. But again, just as with Kimihiro's music, she found that it was not so easy to hate. Not when she had months of happy memories with Hokuto that were choosing this precise moment to show up in her mind and remind her that once, their differences hadn't mattered. That they'd just been Rei and Hokuto, or 'Rei of sunshine' and 'Ho-chi', enjoying a first love in high school.

 _Those times are gone now, though. They'll never come back._

"Oh, no, I've got it!" Hokuto crowed suddenly, worry disappearing. "I still haven't given you your crepe, and I'm all busy with mine! Here, have it! I got it from your classma-well, I think they're your seniors? I'm not sure, exactly, but it was guys from your school and damn, they're so good, almost SHSL worthy…but anyway, here! Eat up!"

"No."

 _Really? Really? Perhaps if you hadn't said it like that, I could have decided to go back on myself and damn the consequences. But you've just dug your own grave, Hokuto, you've just reminded me why I can't be with you anymore._

"Eh?" Once again, Hokuto's smile disappeared behind confusion. Her wide red eyes widened even more. "What's wrong, my Rei of sunshine?"

"It's over."

"I…it's what?"

"It's not that difficult to understand, Hokuto. It's. Over. I'm breaking up with you, I've had enough."

"B-but….but…why? I don't understand? What did I do? Did I annoy you in some way? Can't we, I dunno, talk about it or something?"

"Tch." Rei got up and dusted down her school skirt, and glared daggers at Hokuto. "Someone like you would _never_ understand."

"B-but, if you just explain-I thought you loved me!"

"Loved? You, really? You're so freaking oblivious to your privilege-do you have any idea how good you have it?"

"My Rei-"

"I'm _not_ your 'Rei of sunshine', okay?!" Rei let rip. "Not anymore. In fact, I'd rather die before being involved with someone as uppity and oblivious as you. You're not special, alright? Or even if you are, soon you won't be and you should get used to that! That's _all_ you deserve to know."

"I…don't get what you're saying. Rei-Chan, what are you saying?" Hokuto's lips trembled, and her hands shook as she held both the crepes. Rei just stared at her, at how pitiful she looked at being denied something she wanted- _as opposed to the fact that you've essentially just betrayed her, as if out of nowhere?-_ at how spoilt she seemed, and pretended that this was just contempt, rather than an attempt to memorise her features one last time before cutting her off for good.

 _Means to an end, this is just means to an end. And besides, she IS a Hope's Peak student. She'll soon forget all about me, and continue enjoying her elite privileges, obliviously. Why do I want to tangle myself up in that?_

"Like I said, somebody like you would never understand."

Rei concluded finally, and before Hokuto could say anymore, she quickly turned on her heel and strode away from the fountain without looking back. It was only when she knew she was far enough away, that she stopped and allowed herself to cry, hoping that when all of this was over, the ends _would_ justify the means.

* * *

 **So, yes, that was the thing that Rei was hiding. That she was once a Remnant. Though it would be more accurate to say she aligned herself with their beliefs, or what she thought their beliefs to be. Enoshima purposely targeted Hope Valley High students to join the cause, playing on their resentment about their school and the treatment they got. It worked on a lot. Where Rei is concerned though, she was probably one of the 'least worst' at this point, since she had only pledged her allegiance-she had not yet committed any crimes on their behalf. Mind you, if she hadn't ended up moving to America, she'd have probably ended up being a rioter when all the riots took place. The move freed her from Enoshima's influence.**

 **The reason she never mentioned this to Hokuto when they reunited-well, what would be the point?**

 **Anyway, please leave feedback :) and I will see you next chapter.**


	36. Talk To Her

**Lazy week equals early update. :)**

 **Oh, and as a random side question of little importance, any one watching any of the ongoing series of this season, and if so what's your fave? I've got four-Mahotsukai no Yome, Children of the Whales, Just Because! and Juuni Taisen. It's the last one in that list that's my absolute favourite right now, though three of four of my faves are now dead *cries*.**

 **But, anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! And as always, please leave feedback**

* * *

 _Chieko_

Dinner was a calm affair. By some unspoken agreement, none of us talked about the visit to Yukizome at all. Instead, Wakana asked Shizuka about her day, and Noriko and Hokuto filled in the gaps with small talk-and Noriko took all the opportunities to annoy Masashi whenever she could. So it wasn't entirely calm, if I was being honest, but after the weight of the day, it was an improvement, that was for sure. But still, I wanted to go back to bed, sleep properly and then hopefully wake up tomorrow feeling a little better, a little stronger. _I wonder what we'll be doing tomorrow?_

"So, hey, what are we going to do tomorrow?" Hokuto asked almost as soon as I thought that.

"Hmm…" Akira thought. "That's a good question, actually. I know I need to do some shopping, and perhaps you could do some of your washing?"

"Washing?" Masashi frowned.

"Ah. You mean our clothes?" Tyson realised. "But that's a lot of laundry, isn't it? I just brought a laundry bag, I'll take it home with me and do all the washing when I get back."

"I did the same, actually." I agreed.

 _Though, actually, it would be good to do some of Shizuka's stuff, like her top._ I mentally grimaced at the thought of Shizuka's paint-splattered clothes-it was as if she'd been _bathing_ in the paint. But still, one way or another, it'd wash out, and I'd washed out plenty of paint and other dubious stains in my lifetime, and this wouldn't be the last time. I could deal. The most important thing was that she'd enjoyed herself today.

The others all chimed in with similar agreements about having brought separate bags for dirty clothes.

"Besides," Wakana added afterwards. "I'm sure we've all got enough stuff for two weeks."

"Ah, that's fine. I'm going to be running a load of washing anyway, so I thought you could get some of your clothes done as well-folded clean clothes would probably take up less space than an extra laundry bag, right?"

"Well, if you put it like that…." Wakana said. "Then, perhaps I'll take you up on the offer, Kazama-Chan. But I'm paying for any extra washing powder or fabric conditioner you end up needing, okay?"

"Ah, no, that's not-"

"I insist, Kazama-Chan." Wakana said, firm but gentle. Akira nodded at that.

"Very well then. If anyone else wants to wash anything, then feel free, okay?" he told us all.

"Roger that." Masashi said. "But, what else are we doing then, now that Nanto-tan brought up the question?"

"Just another lazy day, I'd imagine? I suspect we need it." Tyson shrugged. I nodded in agreement to that.

"That works." Wakana agreed.

"Ah, but we should do something. Like, something fun and just about us, not stuck in the past li-"

Hokuto stopped rapidly, suddenly looking at me with a curious look, before glancing at Shizuka, who was thankfully very focused on her food. I shook my head slightly, and Hokuto shrugged wearily.

"You know."

"Yeah…hmm…" Wakana's eyes had….they hadn't exactly flashed, but something had shown up in them when Hokuto had said 'stuck in the past. But now, she looked like she was just considering the point.

"I agree. Let's do something fun. And family friendly, of course." Masashi put in, grinning at me hopefully, carefully. I smiled back at him, and nodded.

"Well, of course." Akira agreed.

"Oooh, I know, I know!" Noriko exclaimed suddenly. "A movie night!"

"A movie night….?" I repeated.

"Yup, a movie night!" Noriko nodded, beaming. "You know, pick some movies to watch, get some popcorn and stuff, bundle in front of the TV and marathon them all in a single night. "

"Yes," Masashi snarked. "We understand the concept."

"Well, isn't that good to know?" Noriko fired back, though she was still smiling.

"But anyway," Masashi continued. "Akira-tan's got a lotta DVDs and whatnot to select from."

"Yes, I do. I don't mind the idea. So, movie night it is, then?" Akira checked.

"Movie night?" Shizuka looked up at this point, apparently having been listening all along, if the curious but excited expression was anything to go by.

"Yes, that's right." I told her. She appeared to assess this for a moment.

"I want to come!" she declared.

"I….well, it'll be late, I'm guessing…." I said slowly, considering. _Ah, does it even matter?_ This was something that'd probably only happen once. And it was just going to be a movie night. Nothing more, nothing less. Just something fun.

"Okay, sure." I decided.

"Yay!" Shizuka beamed.

"Yeah, it'll be cool to have you there." Hokuto told her, which just made her smile more.

While finishing off our food, we debated things like movie choices and how many movies to include in our movie night.

"So, I was wondering, why don't we just do it tonight, instead?" Tyson asked after a little moment.

"Ahem, excuse me?" Noriko's eyes bugged out. "What about the popcorn?!"

"I…..popcorn?" Tyson echoed, nonplussed.

"Yes. You can't have movies with popcorn!"

"I don't like popcorn though." Shizuka objected vehemently. Noriko turned to her.

"You don't like popcorn?!" she exclaimed. "How can you not like popcorn? Well, whatever, in general. You know, popcorn, sweets, whatever."

"I have some sweets, but no popcorn, true." Akira nodded at this. "I'll buy some tomorrow, and then we'll have the movie night tomorrow. That alright?"

"I'm fine either way." Tyson said.

"Yes, I'm fine with that." I replied.

"Yes!" Noriko beamed. "Perfect, I'm so excited!"

"Yes, it will be fun, won't it?"

 _Though Noriko wasn't particularly raising her voice, in the hushed silence of the room, she practically sounded like she was shouting._

" _Something fun, huh?" Erica asked brightly. "Something to boost the morale, I'm guessing?"_

" _Yes, exactly!" Noriko exclaimed. "We kinda need it, don't you think? After….everything? Just something to let us forget about it for a little while!"_

" _I'm not so sure forgetting will be possible, not really." Kanekatsu objected._

 _Kimihiro opened his mouth as if to say something, but Noriko spoke up before he could do so._

" _Geez, Iwafusa-san, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant like, take our minds off of it a little." She huffed._

 _Kanekatsu sighed at this._

" _I know….sorry, don't mind me."_

" _So, what sort of thing were you thinking of?" Daisuke asked._

" _I…I'm not so sure." Noriko admitted._

" _Why not a party?" Wakana suggested._

 _I blinked at her when she did._ A party? _I thought I got what Noriko meant in the first place, and a party certainly fitted the bill. But I kind of felt more like Kanekatsu. How could I take my mind off of anything? How?_

" _A party?" a few people echoed, just as confused._

" _That sounds like a good idea to me," Kimihiro said. "There's certainly the space to do it, here."_

" _Yep, that's true!" Hokuto said. "Not to mention food…."_

" _This isn't going to be some fancy deal with formal clothes and all that fucking nonsense, is it?" Masashi asked._

" _Nah, of course not. It can just be casual!" Noriko exclaimed. "We just gather in one of the rooms and eat food and chat about stupid stuff and have music…actually, music! What shall we do for music?"_

" _Oh, I can take care of that, Edano-Chan, no probs!" Kimihiro said, smiling._

" _I can think of something, I'm sure." Wakana offered eagerly at the same time._

 _The two of them stared at each other, before they started laughing._

" _We'll need to discuss this, I think." Wakana said._

" _Sure, sure. Why not right now?" Kimihiro offered, getting up._

 _Wakana looked at me._

" _Chieko-Chan, will you be alright on your own for now?" she asked with some concern. I shrugged heavily._

" _It's okay, you go…"_

" _Ah, no sweat, we may as well go to the games room or something now, Akamine-san." Erica bounded across to us. "It's fine, Abe-san, you go on. I'm looking forward to this party."_

" _Well…I won't be long, Chieko-Chan. Daisuke-Chan, are you coming?" Wakana asked._

" _I may as well." Came the calm response as the three left the room. I stared as they disappeared._

" _A party, huh?" I murmured._

" _A splendid idea, no?" Erica bent down slightly and grinned at me expectantly, before plopping down on the seat Wakana had just vacated. I could not answer her, but luckily she didn't seem to care, as she started to scribble notes on the plans for this party._

Finishing up my last mouthful, I yawned before reaching for my glass of water, gulping it down quickly and then getting up.

"Is everyone done?" I asked. "Shizuka?"

"Yep, I'm done, Mummy." Shizuka nodded as everyone else said the same and started to get up and leave.

"Good. Will you help me gather up everyone's plates, then?"

"Okay, Mummy."

"No, let me help!" Masashi blurted hurriedly, coming to stand next to me, stacking his plate and Akira's together.

"Kita-kun?" I sputtered, confused.

"Let me help instead-you helped with all the cooking, right?" Masashi asked Shizuka. "You go and relax now."

"Yeah, come and play with us-"Hokuto exclaimed.

"Erm…." Shizuka looked from me to Masashi to Hokuto and back to me again. "Mummy?"

I stared at Masashi for a moment, wondering what his motives were, since it seemed like there was something. He was staring at me, almost expectantly, or at least that was how I was reading it. _Well, there's only one way to find out, right?_

"It's okay, you don't need to. I've got Kita-kun to help me."

"Okay!" Naturally, Shizuka was more than happy with that, proceeding to follow Hokuto out of the room.

 **…**

"Shizuka-tan and I had an interesting conversation."

Masashi blurted this out the moment we were alone, and I stopped dead in the middle of the room to stare at him.

"What…do you mean?" I queried carefully, crossing over to the sink and putting the plates by the side. Masashi followed, putting down the plates he had gathered, and grabbed a tea towel, waiting to dry them as I started to wash them.

"She was a little concerned that you didn't come to pick her up." Masashi started hesitantly, before pausing.

"Okay…" I encouraged, passing him a cup.

"I just told her you were here, because you were tired, and she asked 'what kind of tired'?" Masashi explained. "Like whether it was…ah, how'd she word it again, 'sad-tired' or 'sleepy-tired', something like that. And she mentioned that she's seen you look tired before…, and she was wondering if it was something to do with Ueda-tan and the others. Well, she just said 'the dead people', but it was pretty clear what she meant."

I'd almost smiled at the mention of the distinction between 'sleepy tired' and 'sad tired', because that was a pretty smart distinction to be making, but at Masashi's claim that she'd said she'd seen me look tired before, I paused, gripping the soapy sponge tightly. _Seen me? That's not possible…_ sure, there were moments I'd been lost in thought and she'd come to find me, and I knew, comparing myself to other mothers I didn't seem so….openly effusive. But I'd been careful. She'd never seen the worst, she didn't know anything. _Then again, we spent part of this holiday going around visiting bereaved people…._ could she have extrapolated something more from that?

"I, ah, I told her that you were just sleepy tired, and she did seem to accept it after a little insistence!" Masashi blurted out. "I didn't tell anything, I promise."

I blinked at him.

"Ah, no, I wasn't…..no, I know you wouldn't have." The anxious look on his face melted away a little as I shook my head.

"Phew." He pulled a face. "In any case, apart from that, she seemed mostly fine, really. Worried about you, sure, but fine. Actually, do you know what she said?"

"Go on."

"She said she was 'thinking about things since coming here'." Masashi chuckled for a moment, but then serious, looking at me as he tugged the next cleaned plate from my hands to dry it.

"I….I see. Well, thanks for telling me."

"Psh, course I was going to tell you." Masashi snorted. "It'd be dumb if I didn't. Figured maybe you could talk to her a little more or whatever. I tried to think of something to say, but didn't want to put my foot in my mouth, you know? I don't know what you'd want her to know."

 _Nothing, if possible._

We were silent for a little moment after that, finishing the last of the dishes, and then as I wiped around the sink, Masashi cleared his throat.

"Um, I mean you're the parent and all, but I kind of think she's picking up on things a little anyway, so is it really a good idea to hide everything?"

"What?" I whipped around and stared at him. Masashi gawked, then sighed and face-palmed.

"You weren't meant to say that aloud, were you?"

When I stared at him blankly, he repeated 'nothing, if possible' at me and then it was my turn to sigh.

"No, I wasn't."

"Thought so." Masashi shrugged, watching me. I stared right back at him, and then I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment, before opening them again.

"It's not really like she mentioned anything over dinner…."

Or when she had come back, for that matter. Shizuka was usually the type to blurt out whatever came into her head, more or less whenever it came into her head. Though, that didn't necessarily mean she wasn't thinking of something, did it? Sometimes the things she asked and said came so out of the blue, just like now. _But….I mean…._

"It's already impossible." I sighed. "In the first place, _Koutarou_. "

"Yeah, I know." Masashi nodded.

 _And if I wanted her to be completely ignorant, I'd have left her at home with Dad. But….it's like Ana-san said, it's nice for her to be around people who knew him. Because isn't everything that happened part of her identity too? But that's not fair, she's too little for it. To be hurt by it. Protecting her has to be my priority, but….but….._

 _Koutarou, what would you do?_

"Akamine-tan?"

"Huh?" I shook my head slightly. "Oh, sorry."

"It's okay, Akamine-tan." Masashi said firmly. "It's up to you, what you do. I just thought you should know. "

"You were right, thank you for that."

"I….just….Chieko, are you sure there isn't anything that I could do, anything at all?"

He seemed almost pleading as he looked me in the eyes, his eyes searing.

"Because, if there is anything at all, then I'll do it. For you, for Shizuka-tan too."

"I…Kita-kun…" I swallowed, touched once again, and trying to find better words for it. _Ah, how easily they get stolen from me._

"Thank you, Kita-kun," I decided upon eventually. "It's what I said, knowing you and the others are there is enough for now. And….the fact you keep asking, that you care enough to ask….right now, that means a lot. But this in particular, I can't really get anyone to help with, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Masashi muttered, looking red and embarrassed. He stretched, and yawned, and then turned away to amble out of the kitchen.

"Right, whatever, I'm knackered. See you in the morning."

"Ah, yeah, goodnight." I said to his retreating form, thinking that it was time for me to head up too.

And as I did, it occurred to me- _did he just call me by my name?_ It was pretty out of the blue, and he hadn't seemed to notice it.

 _Oh well,_ I shrugged to myself. _That's not what's more important now._

 **…**

I shut the book firmly, and got up to put it away.

"Alright, that's the last story for tonight." I announced to Shizuka, who didn't seem too pleased by this.

"Just one more?" she pouted.

"Aren't you tired already?" I asked her. "In any case, it's time for bed now, okay?"

"Why? Are you tired too?" Shizuka asked.

"Well, yes…"

I trailed off, thought of what Masashi had told me, and scanned Shizuka's face for any sign of those thoughts or concerns. Anything obvious, that would leave me with no choice but to take the plunge and tell her something.

"Which is why we need to sleep." I concluded instead, decisively putting the book away.

Shizuka pouted theatrically, but obligingly laid down, snuggling into the sleeping bag. But she kept her eyes on me as I went to switch off the light. _Is this the obvious?_

"Mummy, are you sad?"

"A…about what?" I asked carefully. Shizuka just shrugged, and after looking over to see what Wakana was doing-listening to music on her phone, eyes closed-I knelt back down by the sleeping bag.

"What about, Shizuka?" I tried

"About Daddy and your other friends." Shizuka said , half mumbling.

"Well….yeah," I sighed eventually. "It's hard not to be. I…I manage, though. "

Understatement of the year, but it would do. Shizuka regarded me.

"By finding things to help you put away the sad?" she asked.

"Huh…yes, actually." I responded, surprised.

"Oh, okay." Shizuka nodded gravely. "Akira-san does that too, you know. He cooks or goes to work or talks to his friends if he's feeling sad. Do you do those things?"

"I….well, sort of. I suppose." I said after a beat, wondering when _Akira_ had had a conversation with Shizuka about grief.

"…." Shizuka frowned at me. "But what else is there to stop you from being sad?"

 _Isn't that the question,_ I mused. Because there wasn't really anything that was a cure-all. I didn't expect there to be. _But….if there's one thing, one thing that I would fight it all for, then…._

"You."

Shizuka's eyes went round and wide as she processed this.

"Me?" she half-whispered.

"Yes, you." I smiled, patting her hair.

"Ohhh." Shizuka nodded at this, and then hugged Yosa close to her and closed her eyes. "Thanks, Mummy. I'm going to go to sleep now."

I smiled wider at that, and got up.

"Alright then. Goodnight, Shizuka." I told her, going to switch off the light.

I took off my pyjama trousers and climbed into bed, pulling the quilt over me. Wakana turned over, and I noticed she was still listening to music.

"Everything okay?" she asked quietly, her eyes still closed.

"Yeah." I told her. "It is. Goodnight, Wakana-Chan."

"Goodnight, Chieko-Chan." She replied softly before turning back over.

And as I did the same and closed my eyes to go to sleep, I hoped I had said enough.


	37. At Night, Undone

_Wakana_

I'd been thinking of staying in bed tonight, perhaps just listening to music, or something, but in the end, I decided against it, and gathered my music book, some pens and a pencil, and headed downstairs for another night of working on my new pieces. I sat at the table, and flipped open to the last page I'd written on, and considered for a moment before picking up a pen and starting to make more edits, hearing the notes play out in my head and trying to imagine them as they'd be played by my orchestra. Or anyone, really, anyone who wanted to experience music in this way.

"I see you're burning the midnight oil again."

I looked up to see Akira come in, and I nodded.

"Yeah." I agreed. "Looks like you're doing the same too though?"

I pointed to the note paper and the pen in his hand, and he looked down at them for a moment before shrugging.

"Shopping list." He said by way of explanation.

"For tomorrow?" I asked, though I didn't really need to.

"Yeah. I thought of it, and I was awake anyway, so I thought I may as well." Akira explained.

"Fair enough." I acknowledged.

Akira nodded at me, and then went around the kitchen, opening everything in turn and riffling through before pausing to write on the sheet of paper, and then closing up and moving on. Though I returned to my own work, I occasionally looked up to watch, and I wondered. _Do they do things like this?_ Did Munakata sometimes decide to burn the midnight oil at his kitchen table, doing the things he could not do during the day? Did Sakakura perhaps do something similar? Did they keep each other company if they realised the other was awake, or even if it came as a surprise to them each night? And what of Yukizome? Though she wouldn't be able to wander the house as easily as Munakata or Sakakura did, how often did she need company in the night, or how often did she give that company? Or maybe they didn't have those kind of habits, but from seeing them together, I was sure that if they were, they would never, ever be alone in it.

" _You still look grey, Wakana. I think you should have a rest."_

" _Ah, no." My stomach churned a little as I shook my head, but I still managed to smile tightly. "I'll just get a glass of water, or something."_

 _Daisuke considered this, and nodded._

" _Alright, I'll come with you. Kitchen?"_

" _Yeah." I confirmed._

 _We walked in silence to the kitchen as everyone else went their own ways, though when we did get there we found that Erica and Kimihiro had had a similar idea to us and had also gone to get some water._

" _Oh, hey there!" Erica said cheerfully. I gave her a smile out of politeness, and Daisuke nodded as we went to pour ourselves some water. I caught Kimihiro's eye, and he pulled a face, but didn't say anything until we came over with our glasses and leaned against the counter._

" _Well, this makes things interesting, doesn't it?" Erica proclaimed almost immediately._

" _Interesting?" Daisuke asked mildly, though he clearly disagreed._

" _Well, sure!" Erica continued. "That was the most visceral and hard-hitting motive yet! Someone's definitely going to give in to it, you know! How could you not?"_

" _No." I burst out almost immediately. I understood why she would say that about this motive but…._

" _No? Abe-san, people have killed for less than this already, and in this very situation!" Erica exclaimed. "And this was Yukizome-sensei, our beloved Yukizome-sensei…."_

 _Erica trailed off, and for a moment I thought I saw some trace of agony on her features, but it was quickly overshadowed by her usual sunny smile as she rapidly drained the last bits of water in her glass and set it down by the side._

" _Well, I'm going to go pick Iwafusa-san's brains a while, see you later!"_

" _Bye." I said as she scooted out of there._

 _For a moment, the three of us just stared, and then Kimihiro sighed._

" _Why did it sound so wrong when she said 'pick Iwafusa-san's brains'?" he asked absently._

" _Somehow, I don't think she meant it like that." Daisuke commented drily._

" _No, no, I know…." Kimihiro pulled another face, and then shrugged. "Never mind, I feel a bit mean even thinking it, though she does come off like she doesn't care about what we just saw…"_

" _I'm not so sure it's a case of her not caring." I ventured, thinking of the small flash of emotion I'd seen._

" _Mmmm." Kimihiro said non-commitally._

 _We didn't say anything for a moment, all of us stuck in our own thoughts._

" _Who misses her?"_

" _Huh?" Kimihiro looked confused._

" _What do you mean, Wakana?" Daisuke asked._

" _I….Yukizome-sensei. I mean, our families and friends are probably looking for us, right? Or assuming they realise we're here specifically, they'll probably be trying to get us out…"_

 _I let my words fade away as I realised I didn't know if that was true. I knew there were people who missed us all, but_ were _they looking for us?_ Were _they trying to get us out? I couldn't believe that they_ wouldn't _be, but four of us had died already, we'd been here for almost two weeks, and we were still stuck exactly where we were._

" _She has a husband, doesn't she?" Daisuke remembered, filling in for me. "She's mentioned him a few times, his first name's Kyosuke but that's all I remember about him really. "_

" _Oh, yeah, I think I've heard her talk about him too! Sounds like true love to me….lucky, she is." Kimihiro agreed. "Edano-Chan might know more, she talked to Yukizome-sensei all the time."_

" _Ah….yeah, I think I remember….." I thought about it. "But someone misses her, that's the main thing I wanted to know…it doesn't make it better, but…"_

" _At least it's something." Daisuke filled in for me once again, and I nodded gratefully._

" _Yeah."_

Half-noticing Akira frown, I mentally shoved the memory to a side.

"What's wrong, Kazama-Chan?"

"Huh? Oh, the pen's run out." He said, coming back over to the table. I glanced at his shopping list, where a word halfway down the list was only half-written.

"That's a lot of things on there, but then I suppose that's not really a surprise, is it. Here, use this."

"Thanks. And honestly, I don't really mind that we're getting through stuff quickly. It's nice to have you all here, so it's all worth it."

Akira took my pen, and quickly filled in the word, which was 'tea bags', then he wrote down a few more items, before handing it back.

"Thank you." I said, not just meaning the pen. It took a beat or two, but Akira blinked at that and stared at me, seeming to formulate a response.

"This was a family home. My family home, specifically, obviously. But this was a family home, a house meant to be a home to a family. Five people used to live here, and now there's just me. "

 _And it was not meant to be that way,_ I mentally filled in for him. I smiled at him.

"I understand."

Akira stood up again, and went to stick the shopping list on the fridge. He contemplated it for a moment, then turned back to me.

"Well, I'll be back off to bed now. Goodnight, Wakana-san."

"Night, Kazama-Chan."

I watched him go, and then I returned to my music.

 **…**

Some time went by without me really being aware of it, and the next time I looked up, Tyson was approaching the table.

"Oh, you surprised me!" I exclaimed. "How long have you been here?"

"I just came down." Tyson blinked blearily at me. _He looks as tired as I feel._ As if on cue, I yawned, muffling it with my hand. He regarded me as he came to sit down next to me.

"I was wondering if you'd be down here, Ma'am." He stated casually, though his gaze was careful. "Though I suppose it's not that much of a surprise to see you down here anyway. "

"I suppose it isn't." I agreed.

At that, there was a pause. I looked to Tyson, waiting for him to say something, and he stared back, waiting for _me_ to say something.

 _I poked my head around the door and saw that Chieko was awake, though she was lying down on the bed. She hadn't changed into the new pyjamas that had been provided for her though-they were still sitting there, folded in a neat pile with a wide ribbon tied around them the way they tended to be in department stores, on the pillow next to her._

" _Hey, can I come in?"_

" _Mhm."_

 _I opened the door wider, came in, shut it behind me, and went to perch on the edge of her bed. I picked up the pyjama set, put it on my lap and fiddled with the ribbon._

" _Has everyone else gone to bed yet?" she asked quietly._

" _Ah, Noriko-Chan and Ho-Chi are still up chatting, and I think De Guerre-Chan's at least gone to his room, if not actually to bed. I'm not sure what Kita-Chan or Kazama-Chan are doing though." I answered._

" _Oh." Chieko blinked at me for a moment, then slowly sat up. I shuffled aside to give her space until she was sitting up, cross-legged. She stared at the pyjamas but didn't ask for them. I handed them over anyway, and she took it wordlessly, playing with the ribbon as I had just been doing._

" _Chieko-Chan, is there something the matter?" I asked after a few moments of this._

 _This was what I'd come here for. I hadn't quite been able to put my finger on it, but there seemed to be something bothering Chieko, something separate to everything else there was to be bothered about. I knew she had gone to identify Koutarou's body a few days ago, back when we were still in the hospital, and I'd helped to confirm Daisuke's identity just the day before that, so perhaps that had had something to do with things. But I wasn't sure, and if it was something I could help with, I wanted to know._

" _I…" Chieko looked up from the pyjama set and stared at me. I waited, and then she took a deep breath as if gearing up to say something._

Eventually, Tyson was the one to cave, such as it were.

"Are you still scared?"

I gawped, and it took a moment for me to remember what I had admitted yesterday, while sitting in this very seat. _I'm scared of what it'll be like, when I get back._ Silence, but not comfortable, not necessary, not calming. Not even awkward, which would at least be alright, because awkward silences were part and parcel of any life. But huge and cavernous, an all-consuming and lonely silence. As the days and weeks and months and years had gone by, I'd learnt the art of solitude, adapted to this life of mine that could only be called a lonely one, even with the friends and success I had. I'd made it my new normal, and embraced it. Not happily, but I'd done it well with it.

Yet now here in this family home that was full for the first time in seven years, it was all coming undone.

All these nights of sitting here and talking while writing my music and drinking glasses of milk or water, of waiting and wondering if someone else would be awake and now I was forgetting how to be. I was longing for something that I knew was impossible. The new normality I had adjusted to was falling apart in front of me, and I wasn't sure how I'd be able to return to it or even if I would be able to at all.

And yet, in just over a few days' time, that was exactly what would be happening.

"Yeah," I admitted, though I hated to. "Yeah, I'm scared."

 **…**

 _Noriko_

Yawning, I almost didn't realise that there were people in the kitchen until I was almost in there. Skidding to a halt, I listened for a moment just so that I'd know who it was before I made myself known. Carefully, I crept forward and peered around to see Wakana and Tyson sitting at the table, next to each other, leaning close to each other as they talked about something I couldn't quite hear. They weren't _actually_ touching, but all the same it seemed as if they were. An embrace, but not a physical one. _Ethereal, metaphorical, metaphysical?_ None of those descriptors sounded even vaguely right but then again there was a reason that Sachiko was the writer in our friendship rather than me.

I'd been ready to burst in and greet them, but now, not so much. _What's going on?_ Curious, I stared, and tried to pick out words, but even though there was no reason for them to presume that someone was listening (even though I was doing just that), they were talking low enough that even the most expert eavesdropper would have trouble, something not helped by the fact that they were so close to each other. But my curiosity remained, so I remained there, and then a memory snuck up upon me.

" _So, wait….that means….." I struggled. "That means that you killed her in front of me? I_ watched _her being killed, and I didn't even_ realise _?"_

" _Edano-san, under the circumstances, you could not have been expected to kn-"_

 _Daisuke's reassuring (well, I thought it was meant to be reassuring anyway) statement was cut off by Hironori laughing and laughing. Clearly, everything was funny about this._

" _Yup, exactly!" he grinned. "That is exactly what happened? How does that make you feel, hmmm?"_

The answer to that was 'like absolute crap', and still remained so. At the time though, I hadn't said anything-it was instead Masashi who chipped in with a sarcastic response in my defense, and it hadn't taken long after that for us to wrap up loose ends and vote him as the killer, and watch his execution-Hironori, strung up as a puppet, an execution I still couldn't make sense of (not that there was any sense to be made in _any_ of the executions anyway). It would be a lie to say that I had never felt so helpless, because there were so many more moments of horror back then that made us all helpless and that was just one of the earliest ones, but there was _something_ about that trial, about that revelation. It was the particular devastation of realisation, of knowing that I had been right _there_ but that nothing could be done, nothing at all.

And for some reason, I was feeling it now.

 _Woah, hold up, Riko, have you lost your mind?_ This was not the same thing, not at all. Whatever this was, it looked like Tyson was comforting Wakana, or they were just comforting each other generally. This had nothing to do with me at all. It was an intimate moment, one I had no place in. I was watching, but there was nothing for me to intervene in. 'Nothing' was exactly what I was meant to do.

So that was what I did, by turning away and sneaking back upstairs, completely unnoticed.

 **…**

 _Wakana_

 _At least,_ I thought, _I'm not crying._ Silly for me to care, but it was at least something to hold onto, when I wasn't sure what I was supposed to feel anymore.

"Ah, I did it again."

After all that, I couldn't look Tyson in the eye, even though he'd been nothing but kind and understanding. Yet, I couldn't do what the right thing would have been either-move my chair away back to a respectful distance, straighten up, smile and pretend that I was fine now and ask after Tyson, instead. _Sorry._

"You didn't do anything though. Not anything that needs apologising for anyway." Tyson responded, to all that I had not said.

"I….but I….." I stumbled over my words, all of them having dried up after I'd spilled out my heart.

There was another moment of nothingness, and then without word or warning, Tyson embraced me. His hold was solid and more assured than last night and I was being held closely enough that my face felt a bit squashed, but in a nice way.

"I should apologise, for not asking this time."

"Mhm, it's okay."

After a moment of hesitation, I decided to put my arms around him too, though warily so. And we remained like that, for a number of moments I could not count. _This, too. I'm starting to want this, too._ By staying like this I knew I was just making it harder for me to return back home, just worsening the inevitable. But it felt good too, something akin to hope and everything that word meant before the definition got ruined. _This, too._

After a moment, Tyson let go, and so did I. Straightened again, I became brave enough to look back up at him again.

"Are you okay for now?" he asked carefully, searching my face, his own carefully solemn.

I was about to reply with a cheerful yes, but I stopped myself. Somehow, it was important that I was honest, even though I'd dumped enough on him tonight.

"I'll get through it." I chose to answer instead.

"Indeed."

Then, he did something unexpected-he reached over, and closed my notebook, placed my pens and pencils on top of the cover, then picked up the pile and held it out to me so it was right between us. I looked down, confused, and then back up at him.

"Do you think you could try to sleep for the rest of tonight?"

I tilted my head slightly and frowned.

"At least try? I'll try too, with you, so you won't be alone." Tyson blinked and considered, and then even more unexpectedly, he let out a laugh.

"The wording of that sounded a great deal better in my head, I promise." He explained, shaking his head.

"It's alright, I understood what you meant." I smiled back, before becoming serious again. "But….yeah, I can try…."

"And that's all I can ask for." Tyson stated.

"So….." I carefully tugged my notebook out of Tyson's hands, and mustered another smile. "Okay then."

 **…**

We walked up the stairs together, perfectly in sync, and then each headed towards the doors of our bedroom. Once in front of mine, I paused, and turned to see Tyson waiting at his door, hand on the handle.

"Good night, De Guerre-Chan. And….thank you."

Tyson nodded, and gave me a salute.

"Good night, Ma'am."


	38. Ruin

_Wakana_

" _Ah, where will you be later?"_

" _Probably the laundry room, though I'm going to talk to Cain-san at some point too. I'll probably be there a while, considering it's my turn to do the laundry. "_

" _Erica-Chan?"_

" _Yes. I'm not sure I'm at the point where I'm worried about her, as such, but I have a feeling it might be worth checking in."_

" _Oh, sure, sure. Then, once I know Chieko-Chan's okay, I'll come join you, okay?"_

" _Not a problem, see you then."_

And so Daisuke had gone downstairs, and I'd returned to Chieko, and when later on Noriko and Hokuto had decided to coax her to join them, I decided it was fine to leave her in their hands such as it were (she was still so very frail seeming then). In as good a mood as it was possible to be in in such a situation, I headed down to the laundry room all prepared to keep a friend company as he did chores. But that was not what had happened.

 _Ah, so it looks like I'm awake now,_ I realised in the midst of my remembering. I sighed quietly so as to not wake Chieko or Shizuka, and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. Without looking, I reached out for my phone and held it above me as I unlocked it and blearily squinted at the time. _Huh, okay._ Locking the screen again, I put it back, and returned to staring at the ceiling. It was still pretty early, but I had definitely fully awoken now, and from past experience I knew I wouldn't be going back to sleep again.

" _Hey, Arata-tan, weren't you attempting to get Inoue-tan to fix your…uh….thingy? Just yesterday, I think it was, in the morning?" Masashi seemed to remember suddenly._

" _Oh? Did you break your equipment?" I asked Kimihiro curiously._

" _Ah, yeah, I did." Kimihiro shrugged and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I dropped some of the stuff yesterday after clearing for the party and I wanted him to check over it, make sure nothing's particularly broken inside, you know?"_

" _You should've asked us to help you out, I'd have been fine with helping you carry it all back to your room!" I exclaimed. "Though, that's not really the point here now, I know."_

" _Oooh, this is a development! How come you didn't mention this before?" Erica asked._

" _It was yesterday morning though." Kimihiro shrugged apologetically._

" _Okay? So?" Hokuto asked._

" _Before the motive, I'm guessing. So far off enough that the request may not have logically led to Arata-kun being the last to see Inoue-kun alive." Kanekatsu explained. "Which does beg the question, how did Inoue-kun respond to your request, Arata-kun? I do remember hearing you go to ask him, but I wasn't around to hear any response."_

 _Kimihiro started to answer, but Erica interrupted._

" _Now, hold on, are you sure this isn't an attempt to cover up Arata-san's possible involvement? Such elaborate alibis aren't unheard of, you know? And if you were accomplices, there'd be even more incentive to create an alibi?"_

" _No way! There's no way that_ three people _banded together and killed him." I protested in disbelief. "No-one here's that cold."_

" _Nobunaga-san existed." Erica pointed out._

" _Nobunaga-san doesn't exist now to be a suspect, does he?" Akira pointed out, almost deadpan._

" _Your theory is out there, Cain-san. In any case, under no circumstances will I be driven to kill. I believe I have stated this repeatedly." Kanekatsu responded, clearly miffed._

" _Not to mention, Kita-kun and Iwafusa-san both attested to remembering Arata-kun approaching Inoue-kun."_

" _Ah, and I remember too. Ho-Chi, you were there too!" Noriko exclaimed. Hokuto blinked for a moment, and then nodded._

" _Yup, that's right!"_

" _So that makes four people who remember it." Daisuke concluded._

 _Erica pouted dramatically and put hands up in mock surrender._

" _Okay, okay. I was just playing devil's advocate, geez. "_

" _Yeah, well, sometimes you come off as the actual fucking devil himself, no offence." Masashi muttered._

" _In any case, if we're going to go down this line of inquiry for now, the question we should be asking is how Inoue-kun responded to Arata-kun's request. " Kanekatsu said resolutely. "So?"_

"Yeah, no going back now." I murmured before realising that I'd just spoken aloud. I turned my head slightly and let out a short breath of relief when it didn't seem as if I'd woken either of them. I considered getting up again, sneaking back down by myself, but decided against it. It wouldn't be the same now, nobody else would come back down at this point, I felt pretty sure on that point.

And in any case, I'd promised to Tyson that I'd at least try. As far as sleeping went, that was already out of the window. But if I stayed, that would at least be something. Then I'd be able to say for sure that I had tried.

 _So, I'll stay here._

 **...**

 _Akira_

I knocked on the door of the master bedroom.

"Yes?" Chieko's voice came.

"Ah, it's me. I've just got the washing basket here."

A moment passed, and then Chieko opened the door, though not too widely.

"Good morning to both of you." I said, noticing that Shizuka was peering around Chieko's legs.

"Morning!" Shizuka replied cheerily, before moving away from Chieko and slipping out of the door before going down the stairs. I looked at her for a moment, seeing myself and Hibiki at that age chasing each other down the stairs (or rather, her chasing me…), before coming back to the present and looking back at Chieko.

"Good morning." Chieko echoed after she had left, a lot more soberly, though she still smiled in a friendly way. At that moment, Wakana came to the door to see what was going on.

"Oh, morning, Kazama-Chan."

"Good morning. Here's the basket." I said, handing it over. It was a larger basket, one I didn't use that often because the smaller washing basket was more than enough for me, but that I had ended up keeping anyway. I didn't know why, in all truth and honesty, Yasu or someone like her would have probably had more use for it than me. Still, it was useful now, which was the main thing.

"Thanks, Kazama-Chan. Is anyone making breakfast?" Wakana asked as she and Chieko took it.

"Yes, Masashi's taking care of it today." I told her. She nodded.

"Oh, okay. Do you know if anyone else's changed their mind about the washing-about wanting it done, I mean?" she continued.

"Not as far as I know." I answered honestly.

"Ah, that's okay." Chieko replied. "We can ask later-we'll be taking care of it, after all."

"Yes, yes. Well, I'll see you down at breakfast then."

"Sure." Wakana nodded, before the two of them dragged the washing basket inside and half-shut the door. I stood there for a brief moment, then smiled a little to myself and went downstairs for breakfast.

 **...**

 _Noriko_

I had been thinking a lot about the book these past few days, especially since yesterday, even though I'd been trying hard to not think about the entire mess. Because it would be a mess, wouldn't it? It still involved all of them, after all, and it wasn't unreasonable to imagine at least some of them wouldn't be crazy about the idea. And what about people involved who were beyond us? The families and friends of our dead classmates, and even Yukizome, Munakata and Sakakura. The book was meant to be specifically my view of the events, but it was silly to operate under the assumption that this was all about me. I had to say something.

 _But, is there a point?_ I needed this, and Sachiko did too, and that was why I'd thought of it and given her the permission in the first place, which was kind of ironic considering how annoyed I'd been about the attention the killing game had gained me at first. Objection wasn't going to change that in any way. _It's respect though, isn't it? Basic respect._ It would disrespect everything we'd been through together, the connection we had as SHSL Survivors, if I just let inevitability take charge.

 _So, I will say something. But, not now._ Looking around at my friends as we sat and ate breakfast and goofed around, I knew it couldn't be now. And not for the rest of today. Not when there was movie night tonight.

" _Upupu, good to see you've all gathered punctually-and that you managed to get smelly old Inoue-kun to join you! Would've been a shame if I'd had to punish him at this point…."_

" _Fuck off." Hideki yawned, sticking up a grimy middle finger to complement his words. Interestingly, he didn't seem particularly bothered by being called smelly. Or old, for that matter._

" _So, what are we all here for?" Hokuto asked._

" _What motive is it this time?!"_

 _Erica said at the same time. We all looked at her, and she shrugged._

" _What, it's true, right? It's always motive, right?"_

" _Couldn't it be something else instead?" Kimihiro wondered absently._

" _No." Kanekatsu shook her head. "Well, the possibility exists. But given the past track record, she's probably correct."_

" _Awww, you stole my thunder, you pair of smarty pants." Monobear said morosely, before seeming to perk up again._

" _But anyway, I've been waiting long enough to put it into effect and share it with you, so-"_

" _Woah, hold up, waiting?" I asked._ That sounds odd... _the thought of what it could mean sent a little shiver up my spine._

" _Don't you young ones know not to interrupt? Meh, whatevs, basically I got bored yesterday and came up with this splendid idea and I was all ready to gate-crash your little party and all but then I decided nahhhh."_

 _Monobear did a little twirl on stage, and then continued on his little ramble._

" _I mean, it would be mean of me to ruin it, right? So I decided, ooh I'll let the little brats have fun tonight, then crush their false sense of security tomorrow! Sounds reasonable, right?"_

" _Uh,_ no _." Masashi said empathetically, which was pretty much all that needed to be said on the matter, really._

" _So, anyway, I'm sure by now you can say the first part with me….'if nobody-"_

 _When none of us obliged, Monobear drooped and became morose again._

" _Kids these days, eh? Fine, fine. So, if nobody kills within three days, then half of you won't be waking up that morning."_

" _Huh? What's that meant to mean?" Hokuto wondered._

" _That half of us will be murdered in our sleep if somebody doesn't kill instead, is my best guess." Daisuke suggested grimly._

" _I was thinking the same thing." Kanekatsu agreed, no less seriously._

" _Well,_ poisoned, _to be exact, but yes! Well done!" Monobear proclaimed. "I won't tell you the mechanism it'll happen by, nor what type of poison, not when there's a forensic scientist and a technician on the loose. But all of your bedrooms have been equipped and are ready to go. If someone kills, they'll be disabled. If not, then…half of you are just never gonna wake up again!_

 _Though, it won't be as nice as just going to sleep forever, before any of you go thinking oh let's be sacrificial lambs. And just to make it even_ more _fun, it'll be done at random! Hows about that, hmm? That get your blood boiling yet?"_

I wasn't stupid, I knew that in deliberately holding back until after the movie night, I was being like Monobear-or technically Enoshima- had been. Creating a false sense of security. And yet, even with that, I was waiting. Because surely that was better than ruining things, right from the outset? It wasn't that bad, to want one last thing to be good and simple before the fallout, at least I sure it wasn't.

"Yo, Edano-tan, why're you staring off in space like that?" Masashi prodded my arm playfully.

And though I turned with a deliberately vague and cheery non-answer ready on my lips, that was not what came out. Instead:

"There's going to be a book about us."

The effect was instantaneous-all conversation halted, deathly silence more suited to the night than this sunny time of morning filling the room instead, and all those disbelieving eyes staring at me in incomprehension. _Oh, what did you do, Noriko,_ I asked myself even though I knew the answer.

 _I ruined it._

* * *

 **I struggled so much to even get this chapter to 2000 words. It was just like, nope, I wanna be short. Very annoying, but in the end I decided to give in. I suppose the chapter's quality would have been reduced if I'd really tried to force it in the end, so I guess I can live with it.**

 **Anyway, I have a question for the chapter for you all, but it's not actually related to this fic or even DR in general. It's about Juuni Taisen. To explain, I'm doing a Juuni Taisen one-shot collection as a sort of side-project (it's not uploaded anywhere yet, I'm going to upload all the chapters at once when it's finished). It's about the people who might miss each of the characters after their death, or at least people who might care to know that they no longer exist (trying to explain the reason I came up with such an idea would probably take a century so I'll leave that for the author's note for that fic when I actually get to upload it lol). So for examples from chapters I've already written, Sharyu's chapter is from the POV of her boyfriend, Uuma's is from one of his clan members, Inonoshishi's is from a distant family friend. I even have a couple that aren't from the POV of a person (example: Ushii's is from the viewpoint of 'the battlefields of the world'). But I am really, really struggling with coming up with ideas for Dragon and Snake's chapters. I simply can't think of a person or thing that might care that they're gone. Not to mention whether I should treat them as a set and have them both mourned in one chapter (so to speak) or have a separate chapter for each of them.  
So, yeah, if you're a Juuni Taisen fan too and you have any suggestions, please tell me them in a PM or something, it would help a lot. And if I used your suggestion I would definitely credit you. **

**Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave feedback!**


	39. Killer Moments: Kimihiro Arata

**I'm so mean lol, putting this chapter here even though last chapter ended on a cliffhanger lol. But don't worry, assuming I don't end up unexpectedly busy or sick or something in the next week, the next chapter will definitely be a normal chapter.**

 **Anyway, as always, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Kimihiro waited, the seconds seeming to drag by, as if stuck in treacle. The knife still gripped tightly in his hands, he turned his wrist slightly to see the time. _Okay, so almost time._ Then, as he had been doing, he looked both behind and in front of him, to make sure nobody else would be coming-he'd calculated where everyone would probably be before even deciding when to draw Hideki out, but even so there was no way to be sure and most of the calculations hadn't been very, well, calculated. They'd just been guesses, wishful thinking. If it had been someone like, say, Kanekatsu, the calculations would have probably precise, because she was smart like that. But of course, she wouldn't be making such calculations, because there was no way in hell she'd ever do something like that.

 _Calm down, Kimihiro._ He was getting ahead of himself, even if it was good to keep her in mind. After all, if she wasn't in danger, he wouldn't even be waiting here. But the bear had introduced that motive, waited until _after_ their little party just to fool them into feeling like they were safe this time. _It's what I have to do._ He thought of her, of everything about her-her carefulness, her cleverness, her keen eye and strong sense of justice, her brown eyes and messy hair and her compassion towards the grieving. _This is for you,_ he mentally told her, _this is for you, Iwafusa-san._

His keen ears picked up the sound of shuffling footsteps, and he straightened, stiffened, and looked around. Sure enough, Hideki was coming, hands in pockets, head down, grumpy and oblivious. One step, and another, and another.

 _Iwafusa-san_

Kimihiro held his breath and waited until Hideki was almost in front of him, his back open to him. His hands shook as he moved the knife.

 _Iwafusa-san._

He didn't want to do this, but what choice was there? This was what you did, when the girl you loved was in danger of being struck down by a fatal poison, a poison that would cause a long and painful death. When that sort of thing happened, you put yourself on the line for her. No two ways about it. So he gripped tighter, clamped down on the shaking. He thought of her, of everything about her, and focused on Hideki's back.

 _Now._

 **…**

He stared at the blood swirling around with the water in the sink as he scrubbed his arms with the soap. It was good that he'd rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, because it would have been much harder to hide a stained shirt, much less the fact that he'd changed out of it. And Kanekatsu would definitely pick up on that. Though, that was sort of the point. He wasn't hoping to get away with the killing, that would just defeat the point. He was saving her. He would die, he knew that far too well, but sacrifice was what you did when it came to the one you loved. That's how you showed them that what you felt was real-being willing to die for them. _Ah, I wonder if that was what was missing before,_ he mused, thinking of past loves. He'd have gone to the ends of the earth for them, and had tried to make it clear, but perhaps that wasn't the same as risking his life for them. _Yes, perhaps that was it. So, this'll be the one then. The love that works, except…._

Except for the small detail that he would definitely die, once he'd admitted to the crime, and so there would be no chance for this love to work. Opening the tap to rinse his arms, he sighed deeply, and then looked at the knife sitting there on the side of the sink, still glistening with Hideki's blood. _I_ _am going to die._ The past three trials had proved it would be painful. He was fine with that, it was how it was, really. _But, I don't want to._ He was willing, and prepared, and all too ready for it, but he didn't want to. Underneath it all, he didn't want to die. Heck, he hadn't even wanted to kill. Still didn't want to believe any of them would, despite the fact he'd been proved wrong three times now. _Four times, actually._ Finished with the rinsing, he shut off the taps, and went to dry his arms with the towel, before rolling the sleeves of his shirt back down and going back to the sink and looking at the knife.

When he'd made the decision to kill Hideki, his plan had been to clean up so he didn't look completely deranged, wrap the knife in tissues or something but otherwise leave it in plain sight so he could show it as proof once he'd gone to Kanekatsu to tell her that she was now safe, and explain how that could be. To confess straight away, completely and utterly, even before Hideki's body could be found. But now, he was not so sure. _I don't want to die. I don't want to die….yet._

 _Yet._

The word snagged in his mind, and he thought. He would definitely confess, of course he would. But why did he have to do that straight away? If the end result was going to be the same, couldn't he wait? He could just let Hideki's body get discovered, let an investigation and trial unfold, see Kanekatsu at her finest for one last time and see if anyone could figure it out before he did decide to confess. _Yes. May as well, right? Then at least I can live a little longer. Just a little longer._ He shrugged, and pulled a face at his reflection.

 _Yes. That's what I'll do then._


	40. Open Book, part 1

**And once again, this chapter title is a severe case of I-hate-coming-up-with-chapter-titles. Ugh. On the other hand, this is the beginning of another multi-parter chapter so I don't have to think about chapter titles for a little while yet.**

 **Anyway, on with the chapter! As always, I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

 _Noriko_

"I'm sorry, what?"

 _Ah, of course it's you who breaks the silence._ But I met Masashi's spluttered response as seriously as I had to.

"There's going to be a book about us." I repeated cautiously.

"A….book….about us?" Chieko echoed slowly.

"You mean about seven years ago, about the Mutual Killing Game. Am I right?" Tyson asked.

"Yeah." I nodded, swallowing. "Yeah."

 _I….what are you all thinking? What do you think of this?_ These were my friends, I'd literally been through hell and back with them, and I couldn't tell what _any_ of them were thinking.

" _You're_ writing a book?" Masashi said incredulously.

"Oh, no, not me. Chiko. My friend, Sachiko. She's an aspiring writer, so I gave her the go-ahead to write about us."

"Your _friend_ is writing about us?" Masashi was just as incredulous about this. I just nodded at that.

"I thought you didn't _want_ any more attention." Hokuto pointed out angrily.

"I, well-"

"You realise this is going to do the actual _opposite_?" she interrupted wildly. "This is just going to shake everything up and bring everything up, it'll be just like back then, reporters going wild and everything? You don't think they'll jump at the mention of the book?"

When she finished, she crossed her arms angrily and leaned back in her chair, looking away from me.

"There's a point." Tyson said wistfully. "I don't particularly want more of what I came home to, back then."

"I know, but Chiko, she said she'd make sure it goes through her as much as possible, because she's the one writing." I tried to explain, clumsily.

"Like that's gonna work?" Masashi snorted.

"Indeed, we are the biggest thing that's happened here for a while, and knowing there's a book about it will probably bring back some of the interest….though I imagine that most of it would be aimed at the book itself..."

"But it would probably be impossible to shield us completely." Wakana concluded.

"Do you trust her?" Akira asked me. "Your friend, I mean?"

"She's my best friend apart from you guys! I live with her, she's done so much for me. Of course I trust her!" I exclaimed.

"That doesn't change anything!" Hokuto exclaimed.

"How far are you-or rather, how far is your friend- into planning?" Tyson asked curiously.

"Planning?" I blinked. "Chiko's actually writing it. It's about a third complete, and writer's block notwithstanding she's making good progress. I think."

"Writer's block?" Hokuto asked. She blinked at me a moment, and then her eyes widened.

"Wait, so all this time you were here, you've just been holding back the fact that some random person is writing a book about us?" she said, voice strangled.

"Ho-Chi…." I tried to say something, but came up short. What could I say? She was right, after all.

"So…it's a done deal?" Chieko asked quietly. "It's too late for us to protest?"

"I wasn't _expecting_ that this was already happening. I was hoping that this was just a plan, that you were telling us that this was your intention as a courtesy."

 _But that_ is _why I'm telling you._ I opened my mouth to say this, to say something, but I was stopped cold by the expressions that I could now read. Angry, pensive, troubled, confused. _I've messed up._

"Argh, wait, wait! First off, how 'bout we all just calm the fu-uh, I mean, frog's teeth down and take a chill pill, or maybe a chill tablet, something that melts in your mouth, anyway..."

Hokuto snickered a little at Masashi's rambling attempt at peace keeping, and normally I would have laughed too, but I couldn't. Instead, I just waited.

"Yes, I agree. We need to be calm, hear Noriko-Chan out properly." Wakana said, making an appeasing gesture with her hands.

"Frogs have _teeth_?" Shizuka asked.

Chieko looked over, looking for a moment as if she'd forgotten that she was there-honestly, for a moment, _I'd_ forgotten, which just made me feel worse. Shizuka just looked back innocently, awaiting an answer to her question.

"Shizuka, go upstairs for me." Chieko said, clearly trying to be light.

"Why?" Shizuka asked. "I was going to go see if the cats were outside."

"Shizuka, please." A pleading note entered Chieko's voice, and Shizuka seemed to notice it, because her eyes widened just a little as she studied Chieko carefully. Without a word, she got up, but before leaving, she patted Chieko's knee carefully, as if aiming to comfort.

When she was gone, Chieko seemed to visibly deflate, and she looked down at her lap for a moment before locking eyes with me.

"Noriko-Chan, you couldn't even wait?"

"I…I'm sorry?"

"You couldn't wait, until Shizuka was grown?" she asked with quiet reproach. "Until she was old enough for me to be able to explain things to her, first?"

"Did you even think of things like that?" Masashi jumped in. "The decision to talk about it should have been us!"

"Edano _is_ one of us." Tyson pointed out mildly. "If she wants to get a book written about what happened, it's okay for her to want that. Though, I agree with the sentiment I believe you're actually trying to get across. Which is that about something like this, agreement should have been gained from all of us. "

 _De Guerre-kun…._ I noticed that he hadn't said he agreed with the book itself, but this was something, at least. _At least they don't all hate me now. That's something._ There was a silence while we all processed what Tyson had said. In that silence, a sense of calm settled, and after a few moments, Wakana softly spoke up.

"Noriko-Chan, why are you getting a book written in the first place?"

"Because….because I need it."

The moment I said it, I realised that this was once again a classic case of me explaining things really badly. But as I rushed to clarify, Hokuto interrupted.

"Need? Need? Yes, well, what I _need_ is to move on!"

"Why? How is that gonna help?" Masashi wanted to know.

" _Enough_."

We all turned to look at Chieko, who'd stood up, pale and shaking.

"Chieko-Chan?" Wakana asked.

"Enough." She said again, less empathetic but still impactful. "I…I don't want to hear any more now."

With that, she picked up her own breakfast things, and Shizuka's as well, and started to leave.

"Wait, I'll help too. Akira-tan, you finished?" Masashi asked.

"Yes, sure."

Masashi grabbed Akira's breakfast things as well, and rushed after Chieko. And just like that, the spell was broken. Amongst the five of us, there was an awkward silence. I didn't look any of them in the eye.

"Well….." Akira let out a long breath. "I'm going to get my things together, and head off to the shops now."

"Oh! Mind if I join you?" Hokuto asked suddenly.

"I…um, sure, if you like." Akira replied after a beat. "I've just got to get my things together."

"Cool."

And then, they were both gone, and it was just me, Wakana and Tyson. I stared down at my part-eaten breakfast. _I should finish eating._

"Are you okay?" Wakana asked softly.

"Mhm." I murmured vaguely.

I didn't look up at her, even though I could feel her looking at me. Eventually, I heard Wakana sigh and continue to finish her own breakfast, just as Tyson was doing too. And I just sat there, looking at what was left of my breakfast, even though my appetite was completely gone.

 **...**

 _Akira_

Since this was a larger amount of shopping, I had decided to go to a larger supermarket that was a little further away from my house, so I went straight to my car, and opened it to put the shopping bags in the back, before climbing into the driver's seat, and Hokuto in the front passenger seat.

"So, got a shopping list?" Hokuto asked.

I'd been wondering if I should perhaps try to feel Hokuto out on what she was feeling about what Noriko had just revealed to us, but I was getting serious 'keep away' signals from the innocuous question, so I decided not to press it.

"Sure. Here you go." Quickly, I pulled it out of my pocket and gave it to her before starting to drive. Hokuto hummed tunelessly a little as she looked at it.

"Holy shit, this is long. "She commented after a moment. "Want to split the costs?"

"No, no, I'm fine. Wakana-san's going to reimburse me for the washing stuff."

"Oh yeah, she's doing her laundry. Huh, okay. So….I know I kinda just randomly tagged along, but is there anything you particularly want me to do?"

"Well, sure, it'll be easier to collect everything quickly with two pairs of hands. Let me think what would make sense. Based on where the tills are…."

"Hey, surely you don't need to be _that_ precise?" Hokuto laughed. "Though I like how you're doing your delegating thing. "

"Well, I _was_ a Student Council President." _A SHSL one, no less._ I knew that was something to be proud of now, despite how my time at Hope's Peak had ended up.

"But yeah, surely we can be like, oh you get the vegetables and I'll get the dairy, or whatever…we don't need to literally map out our precise route around the freaking shop…"

Hokuto paused for a moment.

"I think I sounded a little like Kita-kun then. Oops."

I glanced briefly at Hokuto, who then burst into laughter. I chuckled.

"I think I'll keep my counsel there."

"Hey!" Hokuto protested, though she smiled. "You're supposed to disagree. But, yeah, you're overthinking it."

"That I probably am." I acknowledged.

"Though, it looks like you've got to get something from every freaking section. "

"More or less. It's okay, we'll figure it out."

"I know we will." Hokuto grinned. "You know, I don't really food shop much."

"No?" I asked.

"No, not really. Most supplies for the café, we bulk order and get delivered to us. For our own personal use, Orihime's the one who likes to do all that, says it makes her feel domestic or something. I mean, I do it sometimes to give her a break, and sometimes when we run out of an ingredient in the middle of the day and it's not like we can just casually wait for a delivery in that sort of situation, so I might pop out if I don't send someone else. And of course, I'm a grown woman, of course I know how to food shop. But yeah."

"I see." I nodded, thinking of my own grocery shopping habits, which were nothing special. Small weekly shops at the shop I could walk to, and every other month or so at the supermarket we were now on our way too.

"Noriko-Chan really dropped a bombshell on us, huh?"

"Yes, she did. What did you think of it?"

"What did I _think_ of it?" Hokuto asked incredulously. "What did I-sorry, I'm not being fair. I just…I don't even _know_. Why rake it all up again, what's the point?And it's not even as she's the one writing it! On what planet could that have sounded like a good idea?! I'm so mad. "

 _I have no idea._

"I don't know, either. " I answered honestly. _We didn't really ask her why, did we? We asked her to explain, but not the deeper reasons._ I blinked, focusing again. _Forget it for now. It's not like I can do anything from here._

"We're here." I announced instead, driving into the supermarket car park and circling around looking for a good spot to park.

I parked the car, then got out and went to get the bags while Hokuto hopped out, and once the car was locked up, we walked in. I went to get a shopping trolley, and dumped the bags in one corner, and then went back to Hokuto, who was still holding onto the shopping list. She handed it back to me with a flourish and took over the trolley before I could say anything. _Eh, it's not an issue, I can just focus on the list,_ I figured, and so that was precisely what I did.

"Okay then, fruits and vegetables first." I decided after a moment. "They're right next to each other."

"Cool, boring stuff out of the way first. Okay." Hokuto joked, following me.

I found myself chuckling again at that, but the amusement disappeared when I found myself thinking that that was exactly the type of thing Hibiki might have said as well in response to running an errand such as this. _Ah, come on, that's still funny too,_ I reminded myself. _Deep breath._ Pretending nothing was wrong, we found the fruits and vegetables and then ticked them off with a pen I found in my pocket, before moving on to the next category of items, and the next, and the next, ticking the individual items off as they were found. And in that way, my mind was eventually taken off of Hibiki, and off of Noriko's revelation too, at least for a while.

"Okay, what now?" Hokuto asked.

"Hmm…..how about you go and get the washing powder and conditioner, while I do the snacks and sweets? Or the other way around, if you prefer?"

"Nah, nah, this way is fine. Which brand?"

"Here, take the list, I've got it written on there. Take the trolley with you too, it'll be easier than dragging the items back to me. We'll go to the drinks section once we're back together, and then I think we should be finished."

"Alright, see you in a bit." Hokuto grinned at me, and then wheeled the trolley away, while I went onto the aisle where the crisps and snacks were. I picked up a few different things, recalling the flavours and types that everyone liked, and had a look at what else was around. And then my eyes rested on the popcorn, on a lower shelf slightly ahead of me.

 _Popcorn?_

I stared, and then I remembered. _We were meant to have movie night tonight. And you can't have movie night without popcorn. But….you can't have movie night if nobody's there to watch movies, either._ Had Noriko thought of that, before deciding to tell us about the book today? Or even before deciding that it was a good idea to do the book in the first place? I could tell that the others all wished, to different extents, that she'd consulted us about the idea, rather than just telling us when it was practically a _fait accompli_. I felt the same, more or less.

 _But you can't have movie night without popcorn._

Decision made, I kneeled down reached for the popcorn. Two large packets-one sweet, one salty. That should be enough, I figured. Before my fingers touched the first packet, I hesitated a moment, but then I grabbed it and picked it up, then got the next one, and piled them atop the other items I already had, before straightening. I walked back down the aisle, and at that moment Hokuto came back.

"Mission accomplished!" she grinned, pointing at the items. I nodded at her, and proceeded to dump everything I was holding in the trolley before taking it back from her to push it to the next section.

"Looks like you've accomplished your mission too…wait, is that popcorn?"

We stopped.

"Yes, it is."

"Really?" Hokuto asked sceptically.

Of course, the question she was really asking was not 'is this really popcorn' but 'did you really decide to buy some'. I sighed and rubbed my face.

"Yes."

"Weren't you there today?" Hokuto replied bitterly to that. I was getting serious 'keep away' signals here as well, but I couldn't follow them, not this time.

Manoeuvring out of the way of other shoppers, I went to a side, and Hokuto followed. And there, I tried to think of an answer.

 _I stopped short when I sensed a presence._ Who?... _nobody had really come in here anymore, not since Yashiro's murder. But not wanting to be with people, yet not wanting to be alone with my mind, had led me here in search of a book to lose myself in. I hadn't expected anyone else to be in the library._

 _Cautiously, I peered around the shelf to see who it was. Kanekatsu was standing there, as if she was looking at the books displayed there. Except that, slightly hunched, her hands were gripping the edge of the shelf tightly, her head lowered._

Is…is she crying? _I wondered. I could see that her eyes were closed, and she looked weary, but from my angle, I couldn't completely see her expression. And besides, she was completely still, and almost completely silent._

 _Watching for a few moments, I wondered if I should make myself known, if I should ask her if she was alright or something like that. Yet…._ maybe she came here for the same reason I had? _To be by herself, but not alone. It wouldn't be right if I disturbed her in that case._

 _So, I walked away._

"Yes, I was. I still stand by this." I said, gesturing to the popcorn. "Even if it's just me and her in the end. That's fine, to feel however you feel, but….we can't isolate her, you know. We're acting as if she's one of our enemies, but…if we're using snarky retorts, don't you remember who she is?"

Hokuto winced.

"I….yeah. But that's _why_ I'm so freaking mad in the first place!" She hesitated, then sighed. "I guess I need to talk to her properly at least, huh?"

"We all do." I said reassuringly. "Honestly, we all made a shambles of it this morning."

"Hmmm."

"Well, anyway, I suppose we should finish up here, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah."

* * *

 **To clarify the flashback a little, it wasn't the last time Akira saw Kanekatsu alive. It was, however, the night before she died, which was enough for it to seem like it could have been a defining moment that decided her fate, at least to Akira.**

 **Also, I don't actually know if frogs have teeth or not.**


	41. Open Book, part 2

_Tyson_

We finished eating and drinking at about the same time, so without really putting too much thought into it, we got up at the same time and went to take our plates and cups to Chieko and Masashi in the kitchen. Noriko had left her plate (some food left uneaten on it) and her mug (empty), and Wakana reached to pick them up when she paused. Carefully, I watched as she stared down at them for a moment, before looking back towards the door.

"Wakana?" I asked.

"Should I have tried to get her to stay?" she asked. "She didn't even finish eating."

"Under the circumstances, I suspect she lost her appetite." I commented.

"Yeah, because we all piled on her." Wakana sighed. "I should have tried to say something."

 _But you hadn't,_ I pointed out silently. She hadn't seemed to have a particular opinion either way let alone offer one, but still hadn't seemed to be angry at Noriko. I hadn't been either, though I did have opinions that I hadn't offered, simply because there hadn't been a good time to offer them. _We kinda made a mess of that. I guess we could have some leeway because it came as a surprise, but even so._

"Do you think that I should go up to talk to her?" Wakana asked after a few moments.

I considered my answer.

" _So, wanna know what you have to do in order to leave the school? You must….kill someone in this school!"_

" _Excuse me,_ what _?" The boy with the Mohawk-_ no, wait, Masashi, that's his name, you should know by now! _-spluttered._

" _I…I'm sorry, did you just say we have to kill?" Akira questioned, while Hibiki stared at everyone with wide eyes, shuffling closer to him as she did._

" _This….this is a joke, right?" Hibiki attempted a nervous laugh. "Right? Just a joke."_

 _There were other reactions too, all layered on top of one another-Erica scratching her head in confusion, Shiro whimpering, Oshiro wrapping his arms around himself defensively, Kimihiro standing silently looking slightly stunned, Hironori seeming amused as he silently watched us all, hands in his pockets._

 _The bear continued his speech blithely, as if he didn't care. I listened, trying to pick his words out of the cacophony surrounding me._

" _By clobbering, stabbing, bashing, beheading, torching, crushing, wringing, gutting or even hexing! In short, you are free to kill however you choose! But that is the only way you can graduate from here-by murdering!"_

" _That's….there's no way that anyone here would do that! Why would we? Why are you asking this of us?" Wakana asked tremulously._

" _Listen, yeah, ya'd better knock this off, whatever this is. It's not funny."_

 _I was only able to hear Koutarou's muttered words as he was close to me, and I noticed that Chieko was clutching to his sleeve as she swallowed nervously, eyes darting around as if she was struggling to process everything._

" _Funny? Funny? Kids these days, don't know how to take anything seriously!" the bear complained._

" _You're serious? You're actually serious?" Hibiki half-shrieked._

" _Eh? You actually mean it? Well…." Erica's puzzled face broke out into a smile and right there and then, she pulled out her notebook and started to write, seemingly oblivious of the chaos unfolding. Still sitting in the corner away from us all, Hideki didn't seem particularly bothered by everything that was unfolding._

" _Everybody, I think we should calm down…" Daisuke attempted to say. "As off-colour as it is, there isn't any reason to believe that this is little more than a-"_

" _Eh, I don't need to calm down, I'm not worried." Hironori shrugged._

" _Excuse me, not worried? Did you hear what that mechanical idiot said?" Masashi asked._

" _Oi, I'm your headmaster, address me with more respect!"_

" _Fuck off." Masashi retorted._

" _Sure, sure. A killing game? It's not my problem if anyone dies." Hironori shrugged casually._

" _Excuse me? Not your_ problem _? You're a first aider!" Noriko shrieked at him._

 _I rubbed my head tiredly, but quickly righted myself, not wanting to show signs of vulnerability, and I turned back around to face the robotic bear, intending to tell whoever was controlling him to come out and reveal themselves._

Eventually I answered: "That would be a good idea, but maybe not right now. Give it some time."

"Hmmm." Wakana didn't seem happy with this. "It doesn't seem fair though, she was upset….and I'm worried she thinks we all hate her now or something."

"Well sure, but that's why it makes sense to wait, doesn't it?" I pointed out. "If she has time to pull herself together a little bit, then whatever you say to her will probably go over better."

"I guess so….yeah, you're probably right, De Guerre-Chan." Wakana decided. "I just wish we could have handled that better."

"No, I agree with you. We should have known better, really, especially after going through the trials for everyone…"

I trailed off as Wakana turned to me looking absolutely aghast.

"The trials? Why should the _trials_ where we _sentenced_ our _friends_ to _death_ act as our standards of how we should behave?"

"Ah, no, I mean, if we managed to get through those kind of life and death situations reasonably, then we should have known better than to pile onto Edano like that."

"Oh." Wakana's expression softened, though more into a gentler sadness than any kind of calm.

"Well," she sighed. "You're right. After going through everything we have together, for us to just react like that…but knowing what the right thing to do, that's not something we should have learnt from something like that. There's no sense to be made in it after all, is there. "

"Indeed."

 _And yet, we have. Well, I have, I think._ I liked to think that somehow, I'd come out from the Mutual Killing Game wiser, even though I was also sadder. Even if there was no sense in any of it, even if it was outrageous and absolutely shouldn't have happened, there had to have been _something_. Whatever those lessons might have been, I would have still much rather learnt them some other way, because the lives of our classmates weren't worth my coming of age, such as it were. But if the only thing to have come out of that trauma was just a damaged, miserable me, then what was the point of me surviving?

"Do you need help with those?" I asked Wakana, deciding to try not to think of such heavy questions for now.

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm fine. But thanks, De Guerre-Chan."

We walked into the kitchen area, where Masashi and Chieko were just finishing up.

"Oh, you guys took your time! Are you alright?" Masashi asked.

"Yes, we're fine. Why?" I replied, putting my plates down on the counter next to Chieko. Wakana did the same, then grabbed the laundry basket and dragged it towards the washing machine.

"Nah, nothing, just sounded like you were having quite the conversation." Masashi shrugged.

"Yes, well." I shrugged in response. "We certainly have been given a lot to talk about."

"Hah, don't we know it?" Masashi pulled a face. It was one of his usual exaggerated faces, but it didn't seem to betray an opinion either way.

"Chieko-Chan, how are we sorting out the clothes? By colours, or should we do something like tops first? I don't think all of it will fit in one wash." Wakana called over.

"Does it not? Well, I guess it wouldn't….so….does the colour run from any of the clothes you've got there?" Chieko asked, not turning around as she started on our plates.

"No, no."

"Alright, then, just put in all of Shizuka's things together, and then in whatever space is left, put all our underwear, socks, whatever."

"Got it."

At that point, I decided to leave, and so I turned and left the room. For no particular reason, I decided to go into the living room, and decided to watch some TV. Perhaps I could see how much of this morning's news I could decipher. I grabbed the remote from the table, went to sit on the sofa that faced the television, and settled down to watch it.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

Once I had finished the washing, I went and knelt down by the washing machine, next to Wakana, who was still sorting clothes out into piles. It was easy to tell which pile was for this first load, and which one was for later, so I grabbed the pile of the first load and shoved it straight in, and then helped to sort out the rest. It turned out there was a bit more space than we'd assumed, so we managed to fit in a few more items.

"Alright then, "I said, tightly shutting the door of the washing machine, switching it on, and then getting up. "Where'd we put the-"

"Oh, they're over here."

Wakana jumped up and went to get the washing powder, disinfectant and the conditioner, carrying them all back and setting them down on the counter above the machine. I opened up the small tray and one by one, measured each thing out and put it in the correct compartments of the tray before shutting it. Then, we both knelt down to look at the different washing machine settings, and Wakana pointed at one after a short moment of consideration.

"That should be okay, right? Because it's all different materials and Shizuka-Chan's stuff is quite stained. "

"Yeah…." I turned the knob to that setting, then pressed the start button. With a loud beep, the machine door locked, and the clothes inside started spinning.

"Chieko-Chan," Wakana asked as we got up again. "Are you okay?"

"Okay?"

"Yeah, after this morning."

 _Oh, that._

"I don't want to talk about it." I said automatically, stiffening.

"But, Chieko-Chan…"

"I don't want to talk about it." Then, realising I'd sounded angry, I sighed, feeling my shoulders sag.

"Not now, anyway. I just…don't want to think about it right now." I clarified.

"Okay. I…well, okay. Sorry."

"Nothing to apologise for. You feel bad, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose so." Wakana shrugged. "We were a bit unfair to Noriko-Chan."

 _Unfair to Noriko-Chan….what about Shizuka? And even me? Yet on the other hand…_

"I suppose so, we didn't really give her a chance to actually explain herself, and I know I'll want to know later, yet….I just can't right now. You can understand that, right?"

Wakana gave me a long look.

"We'll probably be better off deciding what to do or feel once we've all had a little time to cool off, so yeah. But, anyway," she seemed to shake off any melancholy, and smiled. "What are you going to do now? I'm going to go find De Guerre-Chan, do you want to join me?"

"I might sit out in the garden, actually." I decided after a moment. _I seem to be in that kind of mood._

"Ah, okay. Come join us if you want to, okay?" Wakana urged.

"Sure, sure." I replied as she left the room quickly.

"If you want company, Akamine-tan, I'll come with you."

I stared at Masashi, casually standing next to the fridge, and I blinked-I'd actually forgotten he was there. _Oops._

"I guess…but I'll be pretty bad company, so you don't have to." I half-joked.

"Nah, don't be silly." Masashi grinned. "You undersell yourself, Akamine-tan."

That, despite my mood, made me chuckle.

"In that case, yes please."

 **…**

We sat in silence on the step, side by side, not too close but not too far either, just looking out across Akira's garden.

"What are you thinking of now, Akamine-tan?"

"Hmm?" I turned to see Masashi still looking out towards the garden.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I…"

"No, I'm not trying to probe about earlier or anything. Just…. _literally_. Even if it's something like what to eat for lunch or…I dunno, sparkly purple unicorn kittens?"

"Ahem, 'Sparkly purple unicorn kittens'?" I half-laughed. "That's Shizuka's influence I'm hearing."

Masashi looked at me at this point, and after a moment's pause burst out into laughter.

"Yep, more or less." Another few moments, and then he calmed down. "But, still? What are you thinking?"

 _Oh, so, so many things. I don't even know where to start._ But I knew that Masashi was asking because he cared. That was a given, really. I knew that all of them in this little group cared.

 _Even Noriko-Chan?_

 _No, not that, not now._ I didn't have the energy, or the resources. I'd taken medication this morning, but that was just because it was part of the usual routine to keep me afloat. I hadn't anticipated everything suddenly spinning around like this.

"I'm thinking about gardening." I blurted out instead.

"Oh?" Masashi raised an eyebrow.

"About me, gardening. I don't think that's something I'd ever be able to do but…sometimes I wish I could. I enjoyed it once. It…"

 _It was something I used to enjoy with Mum. It kept me close to her and the memory of her after she died. It was something I was proud of being good at. It was something I'd have liked to pass onto Shizuka someday._

"Yeah, I know. I enjoyed the footie a lot; it kinda sucked being told I'd never be able to play again. Stupid leg. I've kinda got used to it by now, but still. Stupid leg, deciding to go get damaged on me."

Masashi stuck his leg out playfully and pulled a face at it as if to make his point, which made me giggle a bit. But then I sighed, tucking my legs in close to me, leaning my head against my knees.

"I _hate_ Enoshima. _Hate_ her. I'm _glad_ she's dead, and I hope she's rotting in some damp basement in hell with her despair. Though even _that's_ better than she deserves…"

"Tch, I second you on that one."

"And a book, that describes everything that she did? That's just…that's just…."

 _That's even more than she deserves. That's like a gift to her, and why would you give anything to her, anything at all?_ There was a tiny, tiny part of my mind that kept replaying Noriko's words and the look on her fact, a part that knew that this wasn't Noriko's intention at all, but even so. _Between this, and what this could do to Shizuka, does it matter? Do the intentions matter?_

All of a sudden, the sobs bubbled up and the tears spilled, surprising me. _I can't do this._

"Hey, Akamine-tan…"

I heard Masashi, but didn't really register him. I straightened up so that at least it would not be so difficult to breathe and roughly, I tried to wipe the tears away, to get myself under control, but it wasn't working. All I could think was, _I can't do this, it isn't fair, I can't do this._

 **...**

 _Masashi_

"Oh sweet holy shit." I muttered to myself as Chieko broke down faster than I could think.

 _What do I do?_ I was no stranger to Chieko's devastation, but that didn't mean I was fine with it. But back then, I'd been more in the side-lines. She'd had Wakana, and the other girls, and initially I'd also made a point of sticking with Akira a little, just to try and get him out of his particular bad headspace. It was not that I hadn't been there, or hadn't tried to help her, but unlike now, I hadn't been the main or the most significant source of support.

 _But, you want that to change, right? Don't you want to be there for her? Didn't you say that you'd do anything for her? And she's right there, in need of someone. And you're freaking dithering?_

"Dammit." I muttered again.

Trying not to think too hard about it, I abruptly hugged her, feeling my cheeks heat up but trying not to think about it. To my utter surprise, Chieko turned more towards me, clutching my shirt tightly as she continued to cry. _Gahhh._ I just patted her back and remained silent save for a few murmured generic, vague reassurances, waiting for her to calm down, at least a little. _At least I'm doing something._

As I waited, it crossed my mind, that if this were a work of fiction of some kind, like a movie or a novel or something, this would be the moment for me. The moment to confess, in some dramatic cheesy way like 'it will be okay, because I've always loved you'. That was how it usually seemed to go in those things, and in such circumstances, it usually worked. So I could easily choose to make this the moment.

But I knew I wouldn't do that.

Not just because this wasn't a movie or a novel or something, but because it would not be truthful. Sure, I loved her, and the length of time I'd felt that way pretty much felt like 'always' at this point. But just because I felt that way, didn't mean that everything would automatically become okay. The idea that my feelings for her could suddenly magic away all her hurt-that was _stupid_. Just stupid. No matter how much I wished that it could at least be that easy. It would be a lie, if I used this moment and said it like that. And it would be cruel.

 _And hurting her, it would be worse than never being able to reveal my feelings._

So, I said nothing.


	42. Open Book, part 3

_Wakana_

Tyson looked up when I peered around the door, and before I could say or ask anything, he scooted up on the sofa, making a space for me to sit if I wanted to, though he didn't indicate for me to actually sit. Still, I took it.

"Watching anything good?" I asked.

"No, it's just the news." He answered.

And so it was. In silence, we sat there and watched it for a few moments, though whatever the newsreader was saying went straight in one ear and out of the other. Quickly, I lost any interest I might have had, and leant back in the sofa, making myself comfortable.

"Are you okay, De Guerre-Chan?"

"Oh, I'm fine." Tyson replied immediately. There was a pause, and then, as if somehow reading my mind, he continued:

"It was a surprise, of course, because it did seem to come out of the blue. So I'm shocked about it, that's for sure. But about the book itself…I'm fine with it."

"You…" I blinked. "You are?"

"Sure. I mean, I'm not exactly crazy about the possibility of being back in the spotlight again, but…remembrance is important, isn't it? Telling the stories of the past is important, isn't it? We're part of history now, after all."

 _Remembrance…yes._

"Well, that's not wrong, I guess…I don't want them to be forgotten, and writing about them is a good way to do that..." I ventured.

"Exactly. " Tyson nodded, exactly. "It's important to make sure that what happened isn't completely forgotten. Otherwise, we've learnt nothing."

 _Learn? What's there to learn?_ He'd said that before, earlier. I still didn't like it.

"What about remembering _our friends_?" I asked, trying as hard as possible to control my voice.

Tyson opened his mouth, but then stopped and studied me for a moment. Then, he closed his eyes for a moment, let out a long breath, and then spoke when he opened his eyes.

"But those two things go hand in hand, don't they? The killing game, the friends we lost."

Tyson put one hand out, then the other, and clasped them together as he said this, as if illustrating the idea of 'hand in hand'.

"You can't remember them, and commemorate their deaths, without talking about how and why they died. It's like the First World War. In remembering the stories of the war, we remember all of those who fell while fighting. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah…."

 _Yeah, that makes sense. I don't want it to though._

"I'm sorry, I'm hurting you."

To my surprise, Tyson reached over and took my hand in both of his, holding it carefully. I just stared down at them, noting how small my hand seemed in his.

"No, it's fine." I said blandly.

"Wakana." Somehow, he made my name sound like a sigh. "Look at me."

 _I can't._

"I am looking at you." I muttered, well aware I was being petulant.

"My _eyes_." Tyson clarified calmly, though there was a very, very slight hint of laughter in his voice.

I hesitated, but eventually I did lift my head up and look at Tyson, watching me carefully, utterly serious.

"What is it? Can you make me understand, what it is that I hurt you with?" He inquired.

 _I can hardly refuse, with you looking at me like that, can I? And not when you feel like safety, too._ So, I took a deep breath, and tried:

"It's not….it's not you, per se. It's just…what is there to learn? We got kidnapped by a talking bear and pushed until we broke, essentially. Do you know how weird and surreal that is? And sure, we survived, and I should be glad for that, but….I survived when Daisuke-Chan and everyone else didn't. And such a big deal is made out of my survival, but it was just luck, isn't it? It's not anything praiseworthy. There's no sense to be made out of it, there's nothing good that can be found from this."

"Ah."

Tyson nodded slowly, and looked down for a moment, so I couldn't see what he was thinking. But then, he looked up at me.

"It's not about trying to find anything good about what happened. You're right, it was utterly hellish, and that will never change. When I talk about trying to learn something from it, it's more about trying to make sense of the fact it happened to me. Trying to find some meaning in it."

"…meaning?"

"Some meaning to having experienced it and come out on the other side. I kind of view it as a war that we fought-and we did fight, even if the fact that we ultimately survived was down to luck as you say, we still fought to stay alive, and so did everyone else. It's just that we managed to make it through when they, regrettably, didn't. And even if I'm living to the fullest, it's hard to live with that kind of weight, you know?-"

"Yeah, I do." I murmured, before realising that I had interrupted. I went to apologise but Tyson shook his head, stopping me.

"It's not meaning or sense in a logical, universal way that explains it all away. For me, trying to find some meaning or sense from having been through the killing game is about trying to make it make sense to me, so that though it won't ever leave me, I can still carry it without feeling worn down."

"Oh…" I looked down at our hands again. "Then, it could be like that with Noriko-Chan, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe the book thing, perhaps it's her way of trying to cope. Or something….speaking of which, I should go ask her now, shouldn't I?"

"Wait a little longer?" Even as he said this, Tyson let go of my hand and sat back. I smiled, even though I didn't feel so smiley.

"Thank you, but I think trying to fix thing with Noriko-Chan is more important right now? But…"

 _Is it okay to ask this?_ But, as I got up, I asked anyway.

"Maybe afterwards, I could come and find you?"

"Sure." Tyson answered easily.

"Okay, thanks."

With another smile, I quickly left the room and headed straight upstairs, mentally preparing myself. I walked over to Noriko and Hokuto's room, but just as I was about to knock on the door, the door to our room opened, and Shizuka poked her head around it.

"Oh, Wakana-san, it's you."

"You okay, Shizuka-Chan?" I asked lightly.

"Mhm." Shizuka nodded, frowning slightly. "Is it okay for me to go downstairs now? Noriko-san came up but she looked sad and she just went into her room so I decided not to ask her. Are you going to go and try and make her feel better now? "

"Well, I'm certainly going to try. And yes, you can go downstairs now if you like."

"Okay!"

Frown dissipating immediately, Shizuka opened the door wider and ran down the stairs. I turned back to the door, and after taking a deep breath, I knocked on Noriko's door.

 **…**

 _Noriko_

Over the music, I almost missed it, but when I took out one of my earphones, sure enough, there was someone knocking on the door.

"What?" I asked grumpily, not bothering to get up.

"Can I come in to talk to you, Noriko-Chan?"

It was Wakana. _No_ , _I don't want to._ I didn't want to have to look at everyone's judgemental and hurt faces. I'd have to encounter them at some point, but I wanted to avoid it as long as I could.

 _But, Wakana-Chan didn't seem like she hated you now, did she,_ a little voice in my head asked me as I was about to make her go away. I paused, and replayed the scene from earlier in my head, and I realised that I was remembering right. Wakana hadn't really said much of anything, but she'd been kind. And really, that shouldn't have come as a surprise.

 _Ah, what can it hurt?_

"Sure, whatever." I called out flippantly, pausing my music and sitting up.

A moment later, and the door opened, and Wakana came in. She carefully closed the door behind her and then walked up to the bed.

"May I sit?" she asked.

I just shrugged at that, looking down at my phone. I felt the bed dip very slightly as Wakana sat herself down on the edge of it.

"Arata-Chan's music, huh?" Wakana asked.

"Yeah."

 _It_ is _his month, after all._ With that thought, I peered up slightly and met Wakana's warm concerned eyes.

"Sorry about earlier, Noriko-Chan. We were quite harsh with you."

"You had the right to be." I muttered.

"No, we didn't." Wakana shook her head vigorously.

"But I surprised you, didn't I? And now you're all upset."

 _Just as I thought they'd all be…this is why I didn't want to say anything. But how could I not have? Ugh, what a no-win situation._

"Well, sure, we're entitled to our feelings," Wakana conceded. "But, we could have handled it better. You're our friend, Noriko-Chan. You deserve better than this."

That made me look up completely. I searched Wakana's face for some hint of deception, or sarcasm, but found none. _And that shouldn't surprise you either, Riko!_ This was exactly the kind of thing Wakana would say and believe.

"And in any case, "she continued. "We didn't really learn much about anything back at the table. I think, once everyone's minds are cleared, they'll want to understand properly and they'll hear you out. I would, for sure, and so would De Guerre-Chan."

"Really? Have…you been talking about it?" I asked incredulously.

"Eh, a little. De Guerre-Chan likes the idea, actually." Wakana said, shrugging.

"And….what about you?" I queried hesitantly after a moment.

"I…well. " Wakana hesitated, thinking about it. "I'm….half okay with it, I guess."

"Half okay?" I raised an eyebrow. _Is that…good….or bad?_

Wakana shrugged helplessly.

"I think I'm still processing it, really. I guess once I know more I'll be able to have more of an opinion, if that makes any sense."

I just nodded at that. _What does that even mean? Is Wakana-Chan upset about it too?_ She didn't exactly look happy, but at the same time, I didn't think she was lying or anything.

"But anyway, did you want to explain it all to me?" Wakana asked suddenly, brightening up after a moment.

Taken aback, I just blinked at her.

"Explain to you?" I repeated back at her dumbly.

"Sure." She nodded. "I'm guessing you're still worried about the others, and I can understand why, where Chieko-Chan and Ho-Chi in particular are concerned. So I was thinking, if you tried to explain things to me, I could speak on your behalf. "

 _Chieko-Chan, Ho-Chi…._ Yes, they had both seemed to be more upset than any of the others. I hadn't been sure why Hokuto had been upset, exactly, but that didn't mean her feelings weren't real. Somehow, it reminded me of how she'd been from time to time before, flaring up whenever someone had said something disparaging about fathers, because she'd been raw over the loss of hers. And Chieko-there was so much going on there. Her first instinct might have been to think about how it would affect Shizuka, but I could imagine she didn't want to have her particular trauma replayed in print. Just seeing her devastation from the outside had been hard enough, there was no way to even imagine what it would have been like to experience it, to have to carry it always. I'd asked Sachiko to be as kind as she could when describing it when she did get to that point, but even so there would be no way to avoid talking about that trial-it was as much a part of those terrible times as all the other deaths and trials had been. Faced with such strong feelings, I wasn't sure I'd really be able to stand up to them, and it was enough to almost make me decide to turn back on the book, tell Sachiko to stop writing it.

 _But that's not fair, to take that from Sachiko. And what about me? What about_ my _feelings?_

"Noriko-Chan?" Wakana tilted her head slightly to look at me.

"I can't…" I murmured, trailing off.

"You can't…?" Wakana prompted me after a moment.

"…isn't it better coming from me?" I asked, shrugging helplessly.

"Well, that's true…"

Turning away for a moment, Wakana frowned as she thought about it, bouncing the bed very slightly as she did so (though I don't think she realised she was doing it). Then, her face lit up with inspiration, and she turned eagerly back to me.

"Then, why not treat it as a rehearsal or some other kind of practise run? Practise with me, and then maybe it won't be so hard later on, when you explain to the others too. "

 _A rehearsal, huh? That sounds like something fun, not anything like this. But, it's probably a good idea, so…_

"Okay then."

 **…**

 _Chieko_

"I…um…"

It had been a few minutes since I'd stopped crying, and we'd been sitting in silence, the gap between us larger than it had been before I'd broken down. Not that was surprising to me, considering. I'd learnt from experience, exposing yourself in any way to someone else left behind some pretty strange feelings. I couldn't look at Masashi, and I wondered if he was feeling awkward too. I _had_ just offloaded all of my worries onto him after all.

"I…um," I tried again. "Sorry about that. I think I made your shirt wet."

"Ah, it's no big deal." Masashi scoffed. _Ah, he sounds like himself, that's good._ "Are you okay now?"

"I...yeah. Yeah."

Silence returned again, but not a moment later, the door behind us suddenly opened.

"Mummy?"

"Oh!" I startled a little as I turned to look at Shizuka. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Shizuka nodded vigorously. "Wakana-san said it was okay for me to come down now. Can I come outside?"

"Yeah, it's fine." I sighed.

"Yay! I can go play with the cats….if they're here."

Shizuka pulled a face for a moment, but then lit up again as she bounded past us and into the garden, looking around for the cats. A few minutes later though, she came right back to us.

"They're not here." She said downheartedly.

"Oh dear, that's unfortunate." I replied, ruffling her hair.

"Maybe they'll come back later." Masashi said.

Shizuka turned to look at him and nodded slowly, as if carefully considering this.

"Maybe." She considered this, and then sat down on the step between us. "Maybe I can wait."

"Sure, sure, we'd like the company. Right, Akamine-tan?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

Shizuka giggled at this, hugging Yosa to her tightly, but then she became serious as she looked from me to Masashi and back again.

"Did you have a fight with Noriko-san?" she blurted out before I could ask what was wrong.

"Why do you ask?" I queried carefully.

"Because," Shizuka puffed out her cheeks. "You sent me upstairs when she said something about a book and you were all asking her about it, and then she looked sad when she came upstairs. She went into her room. I think she's sleeping like you do sometimes."

"Oh. Well, we did have a little disagreement…."

I trailed off, not sure how much to say. _I still have to shield her from it as much as I can. But…_ I thought of the other conversation we'd had, about being sad and what to do about it. _I can't lie, either._

"Disagreement? Does that mean a fight?" Shizuka asked quizzically.

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Oh? Did you say sorry to her afterwards?"

"I….uh…." I stuttered uselessly, suddenly wrong-footed.

"Because, when you get into a fight, you're supposed to say sorry afterwards. Then you can make up and become friends again." Shizuka informed me gravely.

"We haven't stopped being friends though…" I said automatically, surprising myself.

 _But that's true, isn't it? We're still friends, even though…._

"Well, you're not wrong, Shizuka-tan…." Masashi put in. "But, it wasn't just us…"

"Oh! Did Noriko-san start the fight?" Shizuka exclaimed.

"Uhh…"

I exchanged a look with Masashi over Shizuka's head, and he pulled a face.

"Well, then, you both have to say sorry, when she decides to come back down again, okay? If you're still friends then you have to, so you can make up and so that nobody is sad again. Okay?"

 _It's not that simple,_ I found myself thinking immediately. _If it was that simple, then it wouldn't matter so much. But….it couldn't hurt, could it?_

"I can help, if you want!" Shizuka suggested quickly when neither of us responded. "At school, when my friends can't make up by themselves, the teacher has to help us! So I could help."

"Nah, we've got it." Masashi said. "But thanks for the offer anyway, Shizuka-tan."

"Yeah, thank you. But don't worry, we'll deal with any apologies ourselves, okay?"

"Hmmmm. Okay!"

It was then that the washing machine beeped loudly to indicate it had finished, and I realised that Shizuka hadn't closed the garden door behind her. Not that it was such a big deal. So, with a sigh, I got up.

"Looks like it's time to put the clothes out. Are you going to help me, Shizuka?"

"Yeah!"

* * *

 **This multi-parter is pretty heavy-hitting overall, so I thought a little bit of fluffy light-heartedness wouldn't go amiss :)**

 **Anyway, here's another Question of the Chapter for you all. It's optional, as always, but I would definitely be interested in your answers if you did answer it.**

 **So, it's kind of in two parts, in a way. The part that's for those who have a character in this fic is essentially, if you'd decided on an opposite fate for your character than the one you actually gave them in the end , what would it be and why would you have given it to them?** **(so, for example, if you'd decided that the character you decided to give me as a Survivor would be one of the dead instead)** **Would there have been any details of your character you might have changed to make an opposite fate work when it wouldn't have as they are now? And what made you ultimately decide that the status you decided for them was, well, the one for them? You might remember I asked for a 'most likely' status thing as part of the form which was like 'imagine you're sending them to a normal SYOC for this fandom, what would you say they're most likely to be for that' or whatever, so essentially this question is sort of asking a more detailed version of that, especially if your character's most likely status was different to their actual one. Whether you answer it in terms of if what you'd do if you had sent them with an opposite fate to this fic or if you were going to send them to a 'normal' (aka typical) SYOC is up to you :)**

 **The part that's for those who don't have a character in the fic (or for submitters to answer about other people's characters) is, based on what you know about each of the characters, whose fate surprised you most? I mean, in this fic you sort of come in knowing who is a survivor and who isn't already so there's a lot of hindsight involved in this question, but even so, is there anyone you would have pegged as a survivor even though they died, or a victim even though they survived, that kind of thing? Is there a character, who, had you met them in a typical SYOC fic, you'd have definitely predicted one particular outcome for them, but they actually didn't have that outcome? And if so, why did you think this?**

 **Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please do leave me feedback if you can. And, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope you're enjoying your holidays!**


	43. Open Book, part 4

_Noriko_

When Wakana eventually left, I let out a long breath and flopped back on the bed, starfish-like. Staring at the roof, I tried to get my thoughts into order.

 _Did I explain things well enough?_ Wakana had seemed to understand. She'd asked questions and clarifications, and nodded along carefully as I tried to explain what my reasoning was behind the book in the first place. It had certainly been a good 'rehearsal', as Wakana had put it, but would that make any difference when it came to the actual performance? Again, Wakana had seemed sure, and that opinion held a lot of weight. But just like it wasn't all about me, it wasn't just about her, either. So that wasn't enough.

 _Ah, I don't want to face them._

Absently, I used my hand to search for my phone without looking, and when I felt it, I grabbed it and held it above me, unlocking the screen and finding my messages. And then, after a moment of hesitation, I tapped out a text message to Sachiko:

 _I told them about the book._

I sent it, and then waited. It wasn't immediate, but a message came back soon enough:

 _Yeah? How did that go?_

 _Not so well,_ I replied.

 _What happened?_ This time, the response was immediate.

 _Nothing, really._

 _What HAPPENED, Riko? Do I need to come around and yell at them?_

I laughed a little at the thought of Sachiko randomly turning up at the door looking outraged. That would certainly be an encounter.

 _No, it's fine. Nothing like that_ , I responded, serious despite the funny image in my mind. _Just emotions running high. We're going to try and talk about it when, well, emotions aren't running so high._

 _Hmmmm._ Immediately after this, Sachiko sent another message.

 _But you could have just waited, right? Until I'd finished._

 _Yeah…but that'd be a long time, right?_

 _Well, sure, but for one thing by then it's a fait accompli, right?_

 _But that wouldn't be fair._

When a response didn't come immediately, I stiffened a little. Did I sound like I was regretting a promise or thinking of backing out of it? I was having all sorts of second thoughts (and third, fourth, fifth thoughts) for sure, but that was something that I wouldn't do. We both needed this, after all.

 _Yeah, you're right._

The reply flashed on my screen, and relief coursed through me as I read it. _It's Chiko, after all. She understands that they're as important to you as she is,_ I berated myself mentally, though I was smiling as I did it.

 _Though, do you still want me to talk to them? No yelling, I promise ;)_

"Maybe later?" I thought aloud, typing the words as a response. "Depending on how things go."

 _Alright. Let me know,_ Sachiko responded instantly.

I sent her a smiley-face and then locked the screen and put my phone down. _Hopefully, it'll be just fine._

 **…**

 _Wakana_

I hesitated a moment outside the door when I left, but not for long, figuring that I'd done what I could, and whether I'd made any sort of difference would probably only be seen later. I'd have to talk to the others too, just to be sure a repeat of this morning didn't happen. Though I wondered why I was so worried, because it was us. Even if we had disagreements, we were friends, right? So I didn't need to worry so much about smoothing over things, right?

 _Maybe this is what De Guerre-Chan meant, about learning from before. History repeating itself,_ I mused as I turned around and headed down the stairs _._ There'd been a lot of arguments there too-about how to deal with being trapped, whether to believe what we were being told about the killing game, how to proceed each and every time yet another classmate got murdered once it was clear that the game was genuine. There'd been so many arguments in the trials, too, while trying to figure everything out. I'd been on the receiving end of it a few times, because it was always so hard to say the things that would condemn one of them, especially knowing what they'd be facing. _On the other hand….we're not there anymore. We're here, and it's safe, and….well. Perhaps I don't understand so much._

 _But Noriko-Chan on the other hand…._ listening to her talk, I'd certainly come to understand where she was coming from, why she'd make such a decision. And it was clear that she'd thought about the rest of us. But whether I agreed…I'd told her that I was half-fine, and now that I'd really thought and understood it all, that seemed about right. There was half of me that was fine with it, because 'moving on' had different shapes and meaning for all of us-one only had to look at all of us as we were now to know that, and because I suppose I did something similar. Putting aside 'The Songbird's Lament', there was a little bit of all of my dead classmates in my music, the experiences we had there were threaded in the notes. Not as neatly ordered or as clear as a book, but all the same, I had done that.

The other half of me didn't like how the book seemed to be more about Noriko, than about those who'd been left behind. I knew that to a certain extent, there was no separating the two, just as Tyson had said. That it was up to the survivors left behind to tell the stories of those who hadn't been that lucky. But surely there was a way of doing that was not so focused on _us_ , at the expense of _them_.

" _Where would we even start with that?" Masashi asked as we filed into the empty classroom, pointing at Erica's notebook, which Chieko was still holding._

 _Chieko just shrugged at him as she dragged a desk and pushed it up against another one, before putting it down at the desk and then staring at it, confused. The fight she'd had in her earlier seemed to be gone now._

" _Ah, Chieko-Chan, sit down." I encouraged, pulling out the nearest chair and gesturing to it. Chieko stared at me for a moment, then sat down quietly._

 _Akira took a chair and pulled it up to the desk, so that Erica's notebook was right in front of him. I stood next to him, near to Chieko. The others all circled around, the air tense._

" _Perhaps we should start at the beginning." Akira suggested in answer to the question that Masashi had asked._

" _That certainly seems like the best course of action to me, sir." Tyson replied._

" _Why not the end?"_

 _We all turned to gawp at Noriko._

" _What? She was writing something particular just before she handed it off, right? That could be significant."_

" _It's as good a place to start as any….." I ventured hesitantly. "Given what we've got to do now, that might be more useful…."_

" _She literally wrote everything she saw and heard or whatever, who's to say that one place in particular is better?" Masashi huffed._

" _Uh, we have to start somewhere." Noriko retorted. "Otherwise we'll just go around in circles and it's not as if we have time for that, you know."_

" _Tch, whatever." Masashi scoffed._

" _Yeah, I'm kinda curious about what she was scribbling there." Hokuto shrugged._

" _Chieko-Chan?" I asked._

 _Chieko looked up and blinked slowly, before eventually responding._

" _Let's start at the end."_

" _Right then," Akira said quickly. "That's what we'll do."_

 _He flipped the notebook over and opened the cover. Leaning over, I noticed that she'd written in Japanese, on this page at the very least. She'd used katakana and hiragana for most of the page though, which was of course understandable. After a moment of quietly processing the page, Akira started to read._

" _To the ones I leave behind,_

 _Chieko Akamine, Wakana Abe, Masashi Kita, Akira Kazama, Tyson De Guerre, Noriko Edano, Hokuto Nanto. The seven survivors. I'm not sure yet, to whom I'll actually hand over this record of my life to, but this is for all of you._

 _By the time you receive this, I will have explained it all…."_

Something like that, written by a historian, or at least someone a little distant to it all. That way the focus would be less on us as survivors, or Noriko as one of them specifically, and more on everything that happened in general. Maybe even Erica's book, itself. Her family had it now, no doubt, and whether they would do anything with it was well up to them. But it seemed a better alternative…

" _Knowing I didn't have time to think or wonder why he was there, instead of stabbing her again just as I was about to, I instead gripped the knife, and leapt up and at him, aiming randomly. I managed to hit his stomach. As I pulled it out, he blinked a little, and then slowly looked down at himself. For a moment, I stared too, probably because I hadn't been expecting to stab him so easily. But I got over it quickly. Before he could react in any other way, I lunged again. And again, and again, until I'd stabbed him roughly sixteen times and-"_

" _No more." I interrupted. "I, sorry, could we maybe…"_

" _Sure." Akira nodded, looking a little strained himself. "Sure. In all truth and honesty, I'm not sure I could have continued reading that….I think we should skip the rest of that section, don't you?"_

 _The others all agreed hurriedly, and I let out a long breath of relief._

Thinking of that, I stopped short just as I reached the living room. _Though, on the other hand, maybe not_. I didn't want to see an exact blow-by-blow portrayal of Daisuke's murder in print. And I knew the media well enough to know they'd go wild for a telling of what happened from the viewpoint of someone who had died, and as a killer to boot. Any sort of remembrance or reverence would be completely pushed away in favour of something sensational like that, so that was in no way a better solution. _So maybe there's no right way of doing things, is there?_ Sighing, I tried to push away the memory away and I stepped around the living room door.

The TV had been turned off, and Tyson was sitting on one of the armchairs now, reading a book. He seemed particularly absorbed in it, and didn't notice my entrance. Without really knowing why I did so, I took a moment to watch him, and then I walked across to occupy a seat myself.

"Oh, you're back." Tyson looked up at that moment, and slipped a bookmark between the pages of his book before closing it and putting it on one of the arms of the chair.

"How did it go with Edano?" he asked.

"Ehh…." I shrugged. "It went alright, I think. We talked some, I tried to reassure her and….yeah, I suppose, all things considered, it went as well as it could."

"So she told you about the reasons for the book?"

"Yeah. But, I can't tell you exactly what she said, not now. She wants to tell the rest of you herself, and in all truth and honesty I think that's probably the best way to go. It's her story, after all."

Tyson seemed like he had been about to say something, but now he closed his mouth and considered this for a moment, before he nodded slowly.

"As curious as I am, I acknowledge that's the better way of going about things. So, what now? Are you going to try and get Kita and Akamine on-board with listening to her or…?"

"Sure, maybe, but I think it'd be better to wait for Hokuto-Chan and Kazama-Chan to come back first, and then deal with all that first, and then everyone can deal with this all together. I think there's a lot of….collective feeling here, after all."

"Sure, I get that." Tyson said. "But anyway, how do you feel now? You know what's going on, exactly. So….."

I hesitated, but then decided to more-or-less go with what I'd told Noriko:

"Half okay, half not okay."

"Is that something you want to explain?" Tyson inquired, without missing a beat. "Or would you prefer not to?"

 _It's okay, isn't it? To give a higher importance to my own feelings? Though, on the other hand, at this point, why am I worrying anymore? I've already done it so many times, even when I probably shouldn't have. Still…_

"I…..I'm not sure I want to, but I think I need to…." I eventually replied.

Tyson simply nodded, then shuffled a little, sitting up straighter, as if actively making himself concentrate on me, and then he waited patiently. I took a moment to put all the thoughts in my head together into speakable words, and then I told him all of my concerns and worries, about whether a book like Noriko's was selfish or not, whether there was a better way of doing the same thing, even if I had the right to be wondering that, when it wasn't me who was deciding upon such a thing. Even my thoughts on something like Erica's account being used instead. All of it. Tyson listened to it all carefully, nodding along, sometimes prompting me when I hesitated but otherwise not saying anything. But he didn't seem annoyed, or burdened, or anything like that. I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything different, not with Tyson at the very least.

"So….." I sighed, coming to the end of my explanation. "What do you think?"

"As much as I don't think stating the obvious will help: Survivor's Guilt." Tyson stated.

I just blinked.

"It's to be expected, isn't it? Struggling out of a war, leaving comrades behind. Survivor's guilt is just inevitable." Tyson shrugged. "Though it seems like to you, it's not just become a burden, but a duty. And one that's become a burden in it's own right."

"I…." _No, they're not a burden,_ I had been about to say, but I realised Tyson was exactly right.

"Given I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, I'm not really sure that I'm exactly in a position to give advice about this or anything. Just…it is okay to be kind to yourself, to think about yourself and focus on the fact that you're still here, instead of the fact that they're still gone. Or, if you're not quite at that point, let someone else be kind to you. Let _me_ be kind to you, instead, until you're ready."

Tyson finished this little speech, then blinked a moment.

"Not that I _wouldn't_ be kind to you once you got that point, of course." He clarified hurriedly, looking vaguely anxious at thinking I might have misunderstood. Despite everything, I laughed.

"It's okay, I know what you mean. And I get it, I do…."

"…it's just easier said than done?" Tyson guessed.

"Yeah." I let out a breath. "Yeah, exactly."

 _Even more so, since I've always been like this, haven't I? Even before all of this, I never wanted to burden anyone._

"So," I hopped up, and went over to Tyson, kneeling down and picking up his book. "What're you reading?"

Tyson took the book from me, and began to explain it to me, and I made myself put my troubles away, and focus on what he was telling me. Working out how to be kind to myself, that would come later.

* * *

 **It's the last update of the year! I can't believe that 2017 will literally be over at the end of today-where did the time go, haha? And as it happens, the one-year anniversary of this fic is a week and a day away. Not sure I'll be able to do anything special for that, but I'll try :)**

 **Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave feedback!**


	44. Scraps of the Past 8

**Double upload because tomorrow it will be exactly a year since I started this fic (you might remember me mentioning this last week)..except that I'm uploading today rather than tomorrow because I'm not sure if I'll have the time tomorrow, and I really wanted to do this double upload.  
Anyway, this particular Scraps of the Past would have been this week's upload anyway because that's how I numbered it when I wrote it, but the next chapter, which is a normal chapter, is definitely early :) But this particular Scraps of the Past happens to be one of my personal favourites, so I guess that makes it special, in a way. **

**So, well, yeah. I hope you enjoy this double upload! And as always, please leave feedback.**

* * *

"A-ah, are you sure th-this is the best approach to take?"

At that, Sagishi turned to Mikan Tsumiki and gave her a withering look that made her shrivel up a little inside. _I didn't expect my first day off since the hospital attack to be like this…._

"It's not as if I've never broken into someone's house before." He told her. "And besides, Mitarai isn't responding to any other attempts to reach him, so…."

"T-That's t-true." Tsumiki nodded, wobbling a little as she went up the stairs, holding out her arms to steady herself. Sagishi, noticing, went to help her.

"If you're really concerned, I could always say that I took you hostage if we get arrested." He offered, deadpan.

"S-Sagishi-kun!" Tsumiki protested, holding back a laugh, despite herself. Then, she shook her head resolutely.

"No, i-it's fine. Ch-checking on Mitarai-kun's the p-priority. B-besides, we were always doing this in school, w-when h-he forgot to turn up to class."

"Well, once our little charade had been rumbled, that was." Sagishi added ruefully as they reached the top of the staircase and went down the corridor to find the door to Mitarai's apartment.

"Y-Yeah. I-I still c-can't believe that K-Kizakura-sensei a-actually thought t-that he'd lost that much weight in a week." Tsumiki laughed, remembering. _What fun times we had at Hope's Peak, I'm so glad I got to be a part of that class._ Then, they reached the door, and she sobered, instantly, ready to race to assist Mitarai, if needed.

"I-I hope it r-really is that h-he's got sucked up into a project." Tsumiki said. "If-if anything b-bad happened…."

"I share that sentiment. But Mitarai hasn't even been into work the past three weeks and he hasn't called them either, and we all know how much he loves work-you'd quite literally have to kidnap him to prevent him from going."

Almost instantly, Tsumiki had the awful image of Mitarai bundled roughly into a van, gagged and bound, eyes terrified. Then she shook her head rapidly. _No, no._

"The door's locked." She stated, trying it. "Y-you're going to p-pick the lock, right? Rather than break in?"

Sagishi's response was to simply take out a small box, flip it open to reveal tools that were presumably for the purpose of picking locks, an show it to her, before kneeling down and proceeding to do just that. Tsumiki sighed internally, and watched for a moment.

"Say, Sagishi-kun, h-how did you f-find out th-that Mitarai-kun hasn't told his work place where he is?"

"I phoned his boss pretending to be his mother."

 _Of course._

"She's still listed as his next of kin, whereas for obvious reasons, I am not, so it was the easiest thing to do." Sagishi went on to explain blithely. "Anyway, we're in."

Sagishi stood up and pushed the door open, silently beckoning Tsumiki in. Sighing internally once again, she went in, and then waited for him to close the door before continuing on.

Since she had visited Mitarai under normal circumstances before, nothing in the apartment was unfamiliar. In fact, much of it was the same as his off-campus dorm room had been, especially where his bedroom was concerned- two huge shelves filled to the brim with various anime DVDs, a bookshelf full of official staff art books, and various how-to guides on animation, with the odd manga title thrown in. The desk with lots of storage containers and trays on top, and the computer taking pride of place in the centre. And the bed, a small single shoved in the corner, almost an afterthought.

The main differences that marked out this apartment from the dorm room was the presence of an actual kitchen-filled with tools and equipment but almost pristine from rarely being used, given that Mitarai tended to take the easy option of snacks and ready meals unless Sagishi or Hanamura tempted him (or pestered him) to eat something home cooked. Looking in there now, she noticed that Mitarai had recently attempted something beyond a ready meal, as a plate and some cutlery had been recently washed and left out to dry. Touching them, she realised they'd dried off, and Mitarai had forgotten to put them away. She shook her head ruefully, before remembering that there could be a very horrible reason why he hadn't done so, and rushing over to the living room.

Given that there'd been no living room space in the dorms, Mitarai had done well with the living room here. He had kept it simple, mainly in neutral colours, the main things ton stand out being the red armchair sofa, a decently sized TV with a DVD and Blu-Ray player, and a bizarre tetris-shaped coffee-table that Chiaki had gifted to him on his last birthday. There was one magazine on the coffee table, the television remote resting on top of it. Standing next to the sofa, Tsumiki cast her eyes around the space, but there seemed to be no sign of Mitarai, and there wasn't anywhere he could be hidden, so she gave up, and after a quick peek into the small bathroom to make sure he hadn't passed out in there, she returned to the bedroom to see Sagishi busily logging into Mitarai's computer.

"He's taken his laptop and accessories, one of his sketchbooks and pencil sets aren't here, I couldn't find his phone, and some clothes are missing, too. " Sagishi rattled off without turning around.

"Oh." For a moment, Tsumiki went blank as she thought.

"S-so, he ran away?" _That doesn't make sense._

"Well, he's gone somewhere unexpectedly, in any case. That's what this suggests. But that doesn't sound like the Mitarai we know and love now, does it?"

"N-no." _Where did you go, Mitarai-kun?_ "I-I'll do a-a search a-around the room, s-see if there are any other clues."

Sagishi nodded at that, and Tsumiki let out a weary breath before turning away. _Where do I start…?_ Her eyes wandered to the bookshelf, and the two photographs sitting on top of it. She stepped closer to her, and realised that they were both group photos, of their own class. One of them the group shot for the yearbook made the year they'd graduated-Sagishi had been standing in for a politician on the other side of the country that day, so he was conspicuously absent, and Mitarai looked reedy, and more than a little lost because of the absence, standing between Mahiru and Chiaki and staring at the camera warily. The second was much more recent, from Hajime and Chiaki's wedding, and Mitarai looked much healthier and happier, though a little flustered as Ibuki glomped him mid-take, and Sagishi simply stood by, clearly amused. The class (and Hajime, though really by now it was almost as if he had been an actual member of his class) had been so close. She missed those days. They had been so innocent, especially compared to everything that seemed to be going on these days…

 _Concentrate, find something that explains where Mitarai has gone!_ She shook her head rapidly to try and clear it, and she determinedly combed the room, poking through drawers and searching his bed, but coming up with nothing. But then, she noticed the overflowing paper recycling bins, and on a whim, went to dig through those.

Naturally, they were all partially-done rough sketches, crumpled and cast aside for whatever reason. Some seemed to be characters, others landscapes, and some that she thought could be storyboards or something of that nature. She didn't know either way, and as she took out papers, smoothed them out and regarded them, there didn't seem to be anything significant, but then suddenly, there was.

 _Is this…..?_

Shifting from a kneeling to a sitting position, Tsumiki looked properly at the paper. It was only the left half, but it appeared to be some sort of small creature-a bear, or a rabbit, with a round belly and a thunderbolt eye. And it looked awfully familiar. _Hmm…._ she set it aside, and pulled out another piece of paper, revealing a close up of the same bear/rabbit's face, with some hints of what the other half could have looked like. She set those two aside and quickly began sorting through the rest, both the ones she had looked at and the ones she hadn't, and soon she had amassed a small pile of half-done designs, showing a clear progression towards something that resembled a certain bear mascot that had been making the news.

" _Upupu! Surprise, we hit a hospital! How horrible of us, don't you think! But nobody is safe, not while despair's about, bwahaha! And this is only the first…..but don't worry, there are plenty of other hospitals in the country, and we won't attack anymore for now, so if you get sick it's all good. I mean, wouldn't that be just sooooooo boring and predictable? And who wants that?"_

"It can't be…." Shakily, Tsumiki got up, clutching the relevant papers, and she wobbled her way over to Sagishi.

"Hey, Sagishi-kun, t-tell me t-this doesn't m-mean what I t-think it d-does…?"

"Huh? What?" Sagishi spun around with a rapid grace that was astonishing for his build, and stared holes into her for a moment.

"Tsumiki, you look like you've seen a ghost. Are you alright?"

She simply responded by waving the crumpled papers at him, and his face creased even more as he took them from her and he looked through them.

"Ah." Was all he said to that. "Well, that clinches it."

"Huh?" Tsumiki gawped. Sagishi closed his eyes for a moment, then sadly shook his head and simply stepped away from the computer, clicking a few times to make some windows come up before indicating that she should look. So nervously, she did.

She didn't necessarily understand what she was seeing in the technical sense-some experimental gif images, digital sketches, storyboards-much like with his hand-drawn designs, she'd seen him in action before but claimed no knowledge. But she understood what he was creating and animating all too well. How could she not? After all, it was none other than Monobear, the mascot of the cult that had bombed the hospital she worked at, The Wishing Tree, and other places too.

"M-Mitarai-kun i-is o-one of the R-remnants of Despair? T-That's w-what they c-call th-themselves, right? He's o-o-one of them?" she whirled around to look at Sagishi, who nodded soberly.

"More or less…."

"More or less?" Tsumiki squawked. "What does that mean?"

"All indicators seem to suggest that he's created the designs from scratch, rather than copy them from somewhere, such as the circulating videos or the images of the masks."

Tsumiki wanted to ask what he meant by that, to get him to explain examples of these indicators. But it struck her as pointless. She wouldn't understand them anyway, and besides, it was not as if she needed to know these things to understand the essence of what was going on here.

"T-That's….Mitarai-kun w-wanted to m-make the w-world a _better_ p-place. T-This doesn't…..Sagishi-kun, what should we do?"

"Report this, probably. But…"

 _It's not that easy._ Chest tightening, Tsumiki found her gaze drifting back towards the pictures on the bookshelf. _Not when we care this much. But there's more at stake here than friendship and happy memories, right? Surely all of that trumps loyalty. But…_

"Mitarai, what the hell have you done?" Sagishi muttered, having returned his attention to the computer, looking through everything again.

"Perhaps we should…." Tsumiki began to murmur, before trailing off. She had been about to suggest that perhaps they call everyone-all of their class-together, ask for advice and rally together. After all, whenever they'd had a crisis, that's what they had always done. And they'd muddled through and managed to help each other, each and every time. They had been that sort of class.

But somehow, Tsumiki knew that this would not be enough to help them, or to help Mitarai.


	45. Open Book, part 5

_Hokuto_

All the checkouts were busy when we were finally ready to go and pay, and though the self-checkout section seemed less busy, we definitely had way too many items to use those. Akira and I exchanged a look, and then I shrugged.

"Doesn't really matter either way, it's still going to take ages." I said casually.

"Yes, indeed." Akira agreed, before wheeling the trolley over to the nearest checkout.

The two of us started to unload all of the items and put them on the conveyer. As I randomly pulled each one out and plonked it on, Akira frowned and rearranged them.

"What are you doing?" I asked when my curiosity got the better of me.

"Putting them in order of where they'll need to go, so it's easier to pack them up at the other end." He replied instantly.

"Oh. Okay." I pulled a face. _Not something I would think of, but okay._

I tried to match the categories as best as I could-fridge items, freezer items, etc. etc.-in unloading the rest of the things, but some of the things seemed like they could be stored in different places according to preference, so I let Akira do most of the rearranging as he saw fit. In any case, with three other people in front of us, two of them with almost as much shopping as us, we were going to be here for a while, so it was not like it was wasting any time.

I scooped up some of the packets of different snacks, and dumped them on the till, then shuffled forward as the others moved in front of us, gently nudging the trolley along for Akira as we did so, since he was busy handling the washing powder. Once I'd put those items down, I reached into the trolley, and pulled out the packets of popcorn that Akira had selected for movie night. I held them for a moment, staring at them. _I don't want to put these down,_ I thought. _I don't want to, because then it seems like I'm just accepting things._

I looked over at Akira, who was busy with unloading other things, and then stared back at the popcorn packets again.

" _Hey, Ho-Chi, you okay with us having breakfast with you?"_

 _I looked up to see Noriko peering around the door, Wakana and Chieko behind her. Noriko and Wakana were both holding breakfast trays that looked like the one on my lap, though Wakana's had two breakfasts on it. Chieko was holding a pile of newspapers._

" _The nurse said it was fine." Wakana clarified._

" _Ah, yeah, sure." I said after a moment of staring. "It's a bit depressing eating in a bed alone, huh?"_

" _Awesome!" Noriko led the way in, and she put her tray down on my bedside table as she arranged chairs for them all to sit on._

" _It is a bit lonely. I liked eating with everyone all together, if nothing else." Wakana replied to me as she sat down. When Noriko picked up her own tray, Chieko put the pile of newspapers down in its place, then sat down and took her own plate from Wakana's tray, and we started to eat as we chatted._

" _What about the others?"_

" _De Guerre-Chan wanted to stay in his room, and Kita-Chan went to sit with Kazama-Chan, to keep him company."_

" _Oh." There was a pause as I thought of Akira. "How….how is he?"_

" _Same as usual." Wakana replied helplessly._

" _He'll wake up, right?" I asked._

" _The doctors and nurses said he probably would….." Noriko shrugged._

" _Yeah. He's got to be alright." Wakana said brightly. Too brightly. "He has to be…"_

" _He_ will _wake up."_

 _Chieko hadn't spoken up until that point, and when I looked her, her face was still, but resolute. It reminded me a little of when she'd told Monokuma-_ or should I be saying Enoshima?Argh _-that we weren't doing the game anymore. It was easy to believe that what she was decreeing would come to be, simply because she'd said it._

" _Yeah. Yeah, of course he will!" I laughed. "So, what's with all that?"_

" _Oh, that guy brought them in for us." Noriko exclaimed._

 _I gave Noriko a look._

" _What guy?"_

" _You know, from the Future Foundation thingy. Naegi-sempai. He and Kirigiri-sempai brought some in, said that he figured that we'd want to know what was going on in the outside world. There were a few more, but they were English-language ones, so De Guerre-kun took them."_

" _Ohhh."_

" _Naegi-sempai's the one with the brown hair and the slight ahoge, Kirigiri-sempai's a little taller than him, long purple hair tied back in a ponytail. And she wears leather gloves."_

" _Oh!" I had a sudden realisation. "Yeah, now I remember. Those are really cool gloves that she had on. You think she'd mind if I asked her where she got them from?"_

" _Probably not." Wakana chuckled wryly._

 _I grinned back, and then grabbed one of the papers, and unfolded it to look at it, only to see our official Hope's Peak photos splashed across the front page, next to an image of a large pile of rubble and glass. It took me a moment to realise that that was what Hope's Peak had now been reduced to. I then looked at the headline above it: TRAPPED HOPE'S PEAK STUDENTS ESCAPE COLLAPSING BUILDING, it screamed. There was then a column of text with a little prompt to turn to page 5 for more on the story underneath it._

 _Slowly, without reading the actual article, I put it down next to me, took another mouthful of food, then picked up the next one._

" _FOOTAGE TAKEN FROM THE REMNANT OF DESPAIR FILMS 'ACCURATE DEPICTION OF EVENTS'" yelled the next headline, along with a by-line of: Future Foundation officials and police confirm that the students of Hope's Peak Academy's 78_ _th_ _Class were actually forced to take part in a cruel killing game during their captivity. The photograph didn't appear to be related to the article at all, since it was of some spaceship or something. That reminded me of my father a little, so I quickly dumped that next to me and then picked up the next one. And that, too, was about us again._

" _All of the front page headlines are about us, aren't they?" I said eventually, looking up._

" _Yeah." Noriko confirmed, nodding. "It's why we're on this private ward and all."_

" _The Future Foundation people are controlling things very tightly, even without that. Anything the reporters know is only coming from them, and the police to a certain extent."_

" _It's still early days, mind you." Noriko shrugged. "Most of it is just going over the same stuff over and over, and reminding everyone who we are. Like…."_

 _Noriko leaned over and picked up one of the papers I had abandoned, and flicked to one of the middle double page spreads. TRAGEDY OF HOPE'S PEAK's 78_ _th_ _CLASS: WHO'S WHO?, the title said. Our official school photographs were all arranged, in no particular order that I could discern, with a small caption box underneath each, stating name, age, SHSL talent, a short biography, and what information they had about each of our fates. I lingered on mine a little bit, then looked to everybody else's._

" _Have you read all of these already?" I asked._

" _Not really," Wakana answered. "Right, Chieko-Chan?"_

 _Chieko, not looking up from her food, nodded absently, though I caught a flicker of fear in her expression._

" _Eh, I did a little." Noriko shrugged. "I was just curious to see what they're saying, you know?"_

" _Yeah, I guess…." I shrugged. "Let's have a proper look through them after breakfast then, see if there's anything interesting that we don't know yet."_

" _Sounds like a plan." Wakana agreed enthusiastically, before we lapsed back into silence to concentrate on our breakfasts._

Suddenly, I heard Akira saying something to me, and I shook myself out of it, and stared at him.

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked.

"Those can go with the other snacks." He repeated patiently, pointing.

I followed his gaze, and then sighed. _I guess the decision's made for me, huh?_

"Are you…alright?" Akira hesitantly inquired after a moment.

"Yeah, yeah, sure!" I cheerily replied. "I was just daydreaming a little, that's all. Sorry!"

Quickly, I put the popcorn down on the belt, and grinned at him. He smiled a more measured smile back.

"Yes, it is a bit boring waiting, isn't it?" he mused.

"Yeah, but what can you do, eh?"

We quickly unloaded the rest of the items on the belt, and then, it was just a waiting game. I looked around me, at the different people doing their shopping and bustling around. A couple I vaguely recognised joined the queue of a different till, unloading more items than _we_ had onto the conveyer belt, much to the disgust of the slightly bored looking teenage girl with a small basket of items who had been about to join that queue. The couple were oblivious as the girl slunk away to the self-service tills, and as they laughed and joked with each other, I realised who they were: the couple whose house Chieko and I had rested in front of, after that visit with Yukizome. I turned away before either of them could turn and catch my eye-because that would have been embarrassing-but even as I made a point of randomly watching others, I found myself thinking there was something vaguely familiar about them, or at least about the woman. Not so much that I might have seen _her_ someplace else, but that she reminded me of someone else I'd _seen_ recently. But whoever it was, I couldn't say. _It's probably not important,_ I shrugged to myself, before looking around.

I saw old ladies trying to figure out the self-service tills and getting increasingly confused, teenagers in groups chatting to each other to pass the time, someone who had a basket filled entirely with packets of frozen peas, parents trying to corral their children in or out of the shop, a young man standing at the entrance to the shop, appearing to cross-check the contents of his bag with the receipt now in his hands. Two women, ahead of the vaguely-familiar couple, who appeared to be slightly older than me weren't saying anything as they finished up paying for their shopping and bundled it into their bags, but they seemed completely at ease with each other, and one shot some very in-love types of smiles that made it obvious they were together, and it gave me momentary pangs. _I hope that'll be me, one day. No, that will be_ me _, one day. But who, I wonder? Haruhi-Chan, or someone else completely? I guess that'll reveal itself in time._

Time passed, and eventually, the other customers finished and it was our turn. I took our bags out of the trolley, and as the cashier scanned each and passed them down, I quickly picked them up and put them into the bags, this time paying more attention to what went in where, since it'd make no sense to let things get unnecessarily squashed. Akira started to do a few of the items too, but then when the cashier finished and told him the total cost, I told him to just do that, and I finished up the rest. Thankfully, one of the times that Akira had packed away was the popcorn, and it was further down the bag, so I didn't need to look at it as I put the loaded bags back in the trolley. It didn't take long for Akira to finish, and put the receipt carefully in one of the bags, and then take the trolley from me as we exited the shop and went back to the car.

I took the trolley again so that Akira could unlock the boot, and then took some of the bags and shoved them in (carefully), while Akira did the rest.

"You know we will need to talk about it when we get back, right?" Akira asked casually as he put the last bag in and shut the boot. I didn't pretend to not know what he meant, though I wanted to.

" _You can't arrest us! You're not even police!"_

 _Hiding behind the curtain, I stared wide-eyed as the journalist raged and spluttered in front of Sakakura and that Future Foundation member who wore a red coat, both of whom remained calm and impassive._

" _Actually, we're more than authorised to arrest you." Sakakura boomed. "So you'd best scram right now before we exercise said authority."_

 _The reporter simply gaped at them both, his fingers shaking as they held onto his camera. The other's backs were both turned to this window, so I couldn't see the faces they were making, but given they'd both made fairly scary first impressions I could imagine. That, and Sakakura had just tackled him, so it was hard to blame the reporter for being scared of him. Even if he deserved it._

" _If you prefer, we could call a police officer to escort you out, but either way, it's best you leave." The other man murmured quietly. "And don't come back. The children will be left alone, understood?"_

 _There was another moment, before the man whimpered, and promptly turned tail and ran away. Letting out a long sigh, I moved away from the window. The reporter was gone now, but I didn't really feel like being so near to any windows now._

"Yeah, I do." I pulled a mock-annoyed face to distract me from the bubbling anger. "But when we get back, right?"

Akira regarded me for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"Yes, when we get back."

"Okay, cool." I shrugged. "I'll go put this back."

And before either of us could say anything else, I quickly took the empty trolley, and pushed it back towards to where they were meant to go.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

" _Oh, it's been cleared out!"_

 _Koutarou and I stopped dead and whipped around to stare at Erica, whose back was turned to us as she peered around Shiro's bedroom door._

" _What do you mean?" I asked curiously._

 _Erica turned around._

" _Just what I said, it's been cleared out! Come see!" she beamed, before opening the door wider and going into the room._ _I looked over at Koutarou, who just frowned and shrugged. I pulled a face, and then went to follow her._

" _Morning guys-hey, what's going on?" Hibiki cheerfully called out, bounding up to us._

 _I heard Akira greet us as well, and Koutarou told them what we were doing, and then they followed. A few seconds later, Wakana, Daisuke, Kanekatsu and Yashiro also filed in._

" _The body's gone…" Yashiro whispered, looking around wide-eyed._

 _I nodded in agreement. That was the first thing I'd noticed, too. But that wasn't the only thing that had changed, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it._

" _Monobear must have removed it, then." Wakana said. "I'm kind of glad that he did, because seeing her like that each day would just be awful."_

" _Yes. Not to mention unsanitary."_

 _Kanekatsu strode towards the specific area Shiro had fallen, and knelt down a moment to study it, though there wasn't anything to see there. Yashiro stared at her, and shuffled a little closer, but didn't go to join her._

" _It's not just the body though!" Erica cheerfully pointed out. "It's_ everything _."_

" _What's that meant to mean?" Koutarou asked._

" _I think she means everything…." I said slowly, as the realisation started to sink in. "Look around."_

 _It had been completely cleared out. Shiro's bedcovers had been stripped, and the bed made. The things she'd had out on her desk and dressing table were gone, as were the other bits and pieces she'd put here and there to personalise it. When Daisuke opened the wardrobe, it was completely empty. The other drawers and such things also proved to be empty. The toiletries and towels in the bathroom were also all gone._

 _It was as if Shiro had never been there in the first place._

" _She's right. It's all been taken." Akira stated._

" _But, by who?" Wakana wondered._

" _Obviously by Monobear!" Erica exclaimed._

" _Well, yeah, but how would he carry it all out?" I pointed out. "And where'd he put it all?"_

" _I have minions, you know!"_

 _Hibiki shrieked, and Yashiro jumped backwards in fright as Monobear appeared out of nowhere._

" _What the fuck are ya doing here?" Koutarou muttered angrily at him._

" _Hey, don't be rude, I came to help you out, since you're all standing there scratching your heads! But anyway," he said. "I got my little minions to clear out the place while you were all fighting for your lives in the courtroom. I figure that the stink of a body kinda puts a dampener on your glorious school lives, you know? I need you all fired up!"_

" _But there isn't anywhere to put a body here." Akira pointed out calmly._

" _Oho, isn't there?" Monobear challenged, almost leering._

" _No, there isn't." Kanekatsu asserted as she got up again. "So, where did you put the body of Shiro Usami and her personal effects?"_

" _Upupu, I can't help you that much, that'd spoil all the fun!" Monobear giggled. "All you need to know is that they're safe, and that I'll be making sure this happens every time one of you bites the dust, so it's all good."_

" _But, you just took everything….." Wakana burst out. "I get cleaning it up, but to this extent?"_

" _What, it's not like she's gonna need it anymore…." Monobear pretended to think. "But okay, fine! Fiiiine. Just wait a moment."_

 _Monobear toddled out of the room, and we all just stared at each other._

" _Should we go….?" Hibiki wondered._

" _No, we'll wait." Akira decided._

 _The room was silent as we waited, wondering what would happen. Eventually, just as the silence was starting to get awkward, Monobear returned, holding something that he concealed from us. He went to Shiro's bedside table, and put it down, revealing that he had actually been holding two items-a framed photograph of Shiro with her siblings and a pair of black-and-pink headphones._

" _There!" Monobear said, turning back to us. "Is that good enough?"_

I blinked, and bent down to get the last item in the washing basket.

"Here!" Shizuka snatched it up and held it up to me, beaming.

There was another moment of blinking, before I smiled at her.

"Thank you, sweetheart." I took the t-shirt and clipped it up, while Shizuka peered into the basket, examining it.

"Can I use this?" she asked me after a moment.

"Use it?" I echoed, confused.

"Yeah! Like a boat!" Shizuka nodded enthusiastically. "I'm going to go sailing! Well, not really sailing, because it's grass, but almost."

I chuckled a little at that, looking out across the grass for a moment. _Yeah, almost._

"Ah….but we still need the basket, for the other clothes." I remembered suddenly.

"Oh…" Shizuka pulled a face, and then shrugged. "Never mind, it's okay."

She ran further out into the garden, and watched her for a moment, before going back inside. Masashi-who'd come inside a few seconds before me-was standing by the kitchen counter, drinking some juice, and I joined him.

"Oh, hey, do you want me to do that for you?" he asked as I got a cup for myself.

"Nah, it's just water, it's fine." I said, pouring out the water and starting to drink it.

"There's just a few minutes left on the washing machine." Masashi said after a few moments.

"Hmm, yeah, I noticed. " I nodded. "But thanks, though."

We stood in silence for a little while as we drank our drinks, and I thought.

 _I swung open the door, and looked around wildly. Just as Shiro's room had been cleared out, and just as Yashiro's and Hironori's and Oshiro's rooms had presumably also been, Koutarou's room was stripped bare. Bed made, bedsheets stripped away, all items cleared (though he hadn't had all that much out in the first place). I opened the bedside table drawers-nothing. I rushed over to the wardrobe-nothing. The drawers of the cupboard, the desk, the bathroom-all, nothing._ There has to be something, _I thought._ There has to be something.

 _Desperate, I returned to the wardrobe, flinging the doors back open again and then dropping to my knees to look in the bottom, practically crawling inside it in the hopes that I would find_ something _, anything, tucked in a corner, overlooked. How had I forgotten about this, why had I forgotten about this?_

 _Please,_ I begged silently, _Please. Give me something. I pressed my hands against the smooth back of the wardrobe to steady myself, then felt around in the dark._

" _Upupu!" Monobear announced his presence, but I didn't turn._

" _Oh, is that how it's gonna be? Well, fine. Just so you know, there's nothing here for you to find. I mean, I thought about it but naahhhh. You got a lot from him already, didn't you? Or wasn't that enough to satisfy you….?"_

 _Monobear burst out into taunting laughter, and I covered my ears._ Leave me alone. Leave that moment alone, _I wanted to say. I wanted to turn around, scream at him, scare him away. But I couldn't. I couldn't._ I _was the one scared of_ him _, how could I?_

" _Eh, not taking the bait? That's boring! I thought you had more spunk in you than that, or is that only for your-"_

" _Go away!" I cried out hoarsely. "Go away!"_

" _Chieko-Chan?"_

 _Suddenly, the laughter disappeared, and there were footsteps, and I felt someone kneel down behind me, so I awkwardly turned around to see Wakana staring at me, crouching slightly. Monobear was not behind her, or even anywhere in the room._

" _What happened? Are you okay?" she asked me hurriedly. "And…why are you in the cupboard?"_

 _I stared at her for a moment, before exhaustion hit me like a wave. Yawning, I attempted to crawl out. Wakana sighed sadly and extended a hand to me._

" _Let's get you out of here, okay?"_

I sighed, and looked down into my half-empty glass.

"Akamine-tan?" Masashi asked.

"Do you remember, what happened with everyone's rooms after they…you know?"

"Yeah…." Masashi frowned. "I remember you all telling the rest of us about Usami-tan's room. You, Ueda-tan, Akira-tan and Hibiki-tan, a couple of others."

"Wakana-Chan, Ueno-kun, Tsukishima-san, Iwafusa-san, Erica-Chan." I listed automatically.

"Uh…yeah." Masashi blinked. "Well, I didn't see it, I wasn't sure who exactly, but yeah, I guess I sort of remember…why?"

"I…Koutarou's room…." I quickly looked over to the garden to see where Shizuka was, then lowered my voice.

"It was emptied, the same. But…..nothing was left behind, or put back."

"Oh. Uh…" Masashi blinked. "You asked him? That bear?"

"Yeah…." _In a manner of speaking, I guess._

"Bastards." Masashi cursed.

"Sorry, I don't know why I told you that. It's not really like it made a difference to anything….all his stuff got given back to his mother in the end, and she let me sort through some and all, so…."

"No, but still, bastards, fuck-ducking bastards, the lot of them." Masashi cursed again. "That's still not on. "

"Hmmm." I murmured absently.

Determined not to wallow too long, I drained the rest of my glass, and left it by the sink.

"It's nearing to lunch-time, what do you want to do?" I asked.

"Uh….I don't really mind. I think maybe Akira-tan and Nanto-tan should be back soon, perhaps we could wait."

"Okay." I nodded. "Maybe let's ask-"

I was cut off by the washing machine beeping. I paused, then continued.

"What I was going to say is, perhaps you could go ask Wakana-Chan and De Guerre-kun what they want to do, while I do the rest of this with Shizuka?"

"Sure thing!"

Masashi grinned at me, and put his now-empty glass down on the counter, before leaving the room. I went back to the washing machine, emptied all the washed clothes into the basket, and then carried it out.


	46. Open Book, part 6

_Chieko_

I picked up the basket and carried it back out, setting it back down by the washing line. I was about to close the back door, but then reconsidered. I was right here, after all, and we'd be going back in soon enough. So I left it, and just concentrated on hanging the clothes up. Not noticing me come back out, Shizuka continued playing, seeming happy enough even without her feline friends. So I let her be, and let my mind drift.

" _Oh, hey, you going to dinner?"I asked, grinning at Kanekatsu and Yashiro as I passed them in the corridor._

" _Mhm." Yashiro nodded._

" _Edano-san came to inform us that it was ready." Kanekatsu added. "I presume you're looking for Ueda-kun?"_

 _I gaped for a moment before recovering my senses._

" _I…uh, yeah." I smiled again. "Did you see him?"_

" _I can't remember precisely which one, but he's in one of the games rooms with Arata-kun and Oshiro-kun."_

" _Oh, okay. Thanks, Iwafusa-san."_

" _Not a problem." Kanekatsu nodded._

 _They continued on their way, and I went on to look for them. It didn't take me long to hear bits and pieces of an animated discussion, mostly in Kimihiro and Oshiro's voices, coming from one of the rooms, and I pushed open the door and peered around it. Sure enough, Koutarou was there with the two of them, all sitting around a table, playing a card game-specifically, UNO. Koutarou was only holding two cards, while both Kimihiro and Oshiro still had quite a few._

" _Hmm.." Koutarou studied his cards for a moment, looked at the pile on the table, then back at his card, before putting one of them down. The card was one of those '+4' wild-card ones._

" _UNO. Red." He said simply._

" _Again!" Oshiro cried out, reaching out to take four cards from the deck. "Dammit!"_

 _I laughed, and surprised, the three boys turned to look at me._

" _How long have you been here?" Koutarou asked._

" _Oh, just long enough to see that." I said, pointing to the pile of cards. "How long has this been going on for?"_

"… _.I think we've lost count!" Kimihiro laughed. "And usually it's because of Ueda-kun."_

" _Oh?" I raised an eyebrow at Koutarou._

" _I mostly end up with the wild cards." Koutarou shrugged._

" _Which means I've not won_ once _." Oshiro interjected heatedly._

" _it's not like I've been winning all the time either. Only so much you can do with near-constant wild cards." Koutarou pointed out._

" _Hear, hear." Kimihiro agreed._

" _Ah, maybe have another round later or something?" I shrugged. "it's dinner time."_

" _Ah, so that's why you're here." Kimihiro nodded sagely._

"' _That's why I'm here?'" I questioned. "What's that meant to mean?"_

" _Nothing, nothing." Kimihiro grinned. "Well, think you can let us finish off here first?"_

" _From the sounds of it that'll take until_ tomorrow's _dinnertime though." I retorted._

" _Ah, just a few more turns!" Kimihiro appealed._

" _Why'd you have to pick red?!" Oshiro complained, suddenly looking up from staring at his cards, making Kimihiro laugh as he put down a red '3' card._

 _I sighed, and looked at Koutarou._

" _Are you sticking around?" I asked._

 _He just half-shrugged, which I took as a yes._ Eh, I suppose it's no big deal. _I sighed again and rolled my eyes, and went over to sit next to him._

I took a breath as I hung up another item of clothing. _If it wasn't for the fact we were trapped, that could have been any ordinary evening in Hope's Peak._ From the two weeks of memories I still had, I remembered Koutarou gravitating towards Kimihiro and Oshiro and becoming a sort of trio. Though that, I think, was mostly driven by Kimihiro, and only really whenever Koutarou wasn't with me for whatever reason. And it was still a fledgling thing at the end of that period. But that UNO game while we were trapped, perhaps it was a mirror of the times that none of us remembered anymore. It should have been a happy memory because of that. But at best, it was bittersweet.

I hung up a few more clothes, thinking of other moments. Waking up in that classroom, the moment of panic that pierced through the confusion, before the relief of discovering Koutarou was there, too. Wishing Koutarou a happy birthday as we went to our rooms the first night of the game, telling him that I'd definitely be taking him out for crepes the moment we got out to make up for not being able to that day, as planned. Helping him wash up after dinner one night because Hironori had snuck off even though he was also on the rota for washing up duty. _That_ night, everything about it. The strangeness of that peaceful week before Yukizome had been tortured to motivate us to kill, and everything that had come after that.

 _Though I was still laughing at what Noriko had said, I could sense a presence nearby, watching me._ Koutarou? _It felt like Koutarou's presence, even though it was faint and a little further away, but he'd gone to bed, so I was obviously imagining things and…_ no, no, it's definitely Koutarou. _I turned, and sure enough, he was there, holding a plate with a sandwich on it. Curiously, I tilted my head at him._

" _Koutarou? I thought you were going to sleep?"_

" _I tried. But I couldn't." Gesturing to his plate, he shrugged. "I opted for food instead."_

 _I considered this for a moment._ You look so weary, Koutarou, _is what I wanted to say. But that would be stating the obvious, and besides, he wouldn't want me to make such a fuss in front of the others._

" _Oh, okay." I opted for being casual "Wanna sit with us for a bit? At least until Night Time starts?"_

 _Koutarou shrugged again, in more or less his usual way, and accepted._

 _Sure."_

" _Ah, you can sit here, I'll budge up a little!" Wakana said cheerfully._

 _She shuffled over to give him space, and he sat down after acknowledging her with a nod. He didn't say anything else, instead focusing on eating the sandwich he made. I let him be. I was glad that he was here now, since once I was with the girls having the midnight feast, I wouldn't see him until the morning._ Perhaps I'll walk him back to his room before we all start, just to make sure, and then….and then what? A repeat of that night last week? Talking about it? Probably not, since I won't be going in with him but…we'll have to talk about it soon, won't we? But perhaps that's better left for tomorrow, all things considered…. _I deliberately squashed down my worries, and continued chatting with Wakana, Noriko and Erica._

" _Hey, Ueda-kun, did you see Kazama-Chan by any chance?" Noriko asked Koutarou suddenly._

 _Surprised, I looked over. Koutarou's expression hadn't really changed much, but I could see a little bit of surprise in it. Noriko must have seen it too, because she rushed to explain._

" _She's hunting up our food-oh, yeah, we're having a midnight feast too as well as a sleepover thing, and you know how the kitchen's closed during Night Time and all and blah, blah, blah….but yeah, she might have wandered in while you were making your sandwich, so I just wondered."_

" _No, I didn't." was Koutarou's short reply._

" _Oh, okay!" Noriko shrugged and grinned._

" _She_ is _taking a long time, isn't she?" Wakana wondered._

" _Nah, I don't think so." Erica said after a moment of deep thinking. "She's kinda ditzy, isn't she? Probably just got distracted, that's all. Well, that's obviously the ideal best case scenario, but yeah."_

" _Yeah. Yeah, it should be fine." Wakana nodded._

 _After that, Noriko changed the subject to something else, and any curiosity disappeared._

The sound of a key in the lock pulled me back into the present, and I turned around, listening carefully. The door opened, and I heard the rustling of numerous shopping bags.

"Guys, we're back!" Hokuto called out.

I heard Tyson, Wakana and Masashi go to greet them, and a few moments later, the three of them came along with Akira and Hokuto, all hauling bags. Hokuto and Masashi dumped the ones they were carrying on the table, and went back to get others.

"Welcome back!" I called through the door to Akira.

"Oh." Surprised, he looked over. "Hi, Akamine-san."

"Woah, you've been busy!" Hokuto came in at that point, Masashi behind her, grinning.

"Yeah, I guess. " I smiled back.

"Sure you don't need help with the rest of that?"

"Yeah. Deal with that shopping-there's a lot there."

"I know, right?" Hokuto rolled her eyes in mock-annoyance, and she went right back to helping.

I grinned in return and then returned back to hanging up the clothes. Drawn by the noise, Shizuka came scampering back, and she peered around the doorway for a moment, before looking up at me.

"What is it?" I asked. "Do you want to go see what's been bought?"

Shizuka nodded.

"Then, go. I'm sure they could use the help." I said encouragingly.

Shizuka nodded again, and slipped inside. I watched her go up to Wakana and ask if they needed help, and Wakana looked over to me. I smiled and nodded, and Wakana gave Shizuka some fruits and pointed her in the direction of where she needed to go. I watched them all unpack for a moment, then went back to hanging the clothes.

There weren't many left now, so it didn't take me long to finish. I bent to pick up the basket, and then paused to look out over the garden. I wondered if Koutarou could see me. I often told Shizuka that he could, as a small comfort to make up for the fact that they'd never known or met each other and never would. And I knew, just knew that if he _was_ looking down and could see us, he would love her. That was no lie. But I didn't know if he _could_ see me, see us. I didn't know if I wanted him to be able to. I'd rather him be here. I'd rather _none_ of this had ever happened, because it had left me with so much I did not know.

 _Such as: how did I not notice that Koutarou was lying when he first said he hadn't seen Hibiki-Chan in the kitchen, let alone the second, the third, the other times after that, once she'd actually been found? How did I not pick up on the fact that he was troubled beyond the reasons we all had to be troubled that day? How did he manage to keep it from me-me, of all people-and so easily too?_

 _How was he able to lie to me so easily?_

 _No. Stop. Stop._ I could not break again. Not here, with Shizuka right there in the kitchen. Not with everyone else there, most unaware of just how deep I'd fallen once everything had hit me, despite them being there every step of the way. I suspected that thanks to these past few days, they were starting to get an idea of what I'd held back from them, but even so. It could not happen. It could not. I gripped the handles of the basket tightly, breathed in, and then out, in, and out, a pattern I'd learnt well over the seven years. And gradually, gradually, my mind evened out. _I am fine now. For now._ Resolute, I stood up, let out a shaky sigh, and went back in, shutting the door behind me.

"Where should I put this?" I asked.

"Oh, leave it on the side there." Akira gestured vaguely. "You'll need it to take everything in, right?"

"Sure, but won't it be in the way?"

"No, it's fine." Akira reassured, as he took out some large bottles-presumably washing powder or something like that-and started to leave.

"Well, okay."

Shrugging, I put the basket down where Akira had indicated, and then crossed over to the table, where there was still some shopping to be unpacked. Shizuka was looking into one of the bags intently.

"Mummy, look!" she said suddenly, pulling something out.

"Hmmm? What is it?"

"It's popcorn!" Shizuka proclaimed triumphantly, waving the packet around and looking incredibly pleased with herself.

… _.?_

"I thought you didn't like popcorn?" I queried.

Shizuka gave me a weary look that was older than her years, and a deep sigh to match.

"Well it's not for me, is it?" she asked. "It's for Noriko-san and you and everyone else! For movie night!"

"Movie night?"

I blinked, and stared at the popcorn packet, confused. _Movie night? Oh, wait….._

"Oh. Movie night." I repeated dumbly. _I'd forgotten about that._

At that moment, I could sense someone else in the room, and for a weird, wild moment, I thought: _Koutarou._ But that, of course, was not possible, not least because the presence felt nothing like him. It was probably just Akira coming back or something, so I pushed it aside and tried to think of what to say to Shizuka about movie night. But then, all of a sudden, the motion and chatting that had been going on around me stilled. So, curious, I turned around, and saw Noriko.

She was standing there warily, her hair slightly rumpled and eyes a little red- _wait_ , _she's been crying?-_ and her expression slightly worried. She didn't say a word, and neither did we, as we stared at each other. Shizuka looked at us, clutching to the popcorn packet carefully, but she didn't say anything, though I could almost see her thinking, wondering if I was going to do what she'd suggested.

 _Noriko went straight to one of the cupboards, and began pulling down some items at random, most of which looked like snacks. I stared, and put my hands on my hips._

" _Uh…we're meant to be cooking, you do realise that, right?" I went over to the vegetables, and picked up a couple of onions and a carrot, as if to demonstrate._

" _Meh, well maybe we could use these things somehow?" Noriko shrugged. "What are we making anyway?"_

" _Not sure, actually. Maybe a stew or something?" I considered the vegetables in my hands. "Yeah, a stew."_

" _Oh, okay." Noriko looked at the things she'd left on the kitchen counter. "You can't really put marshmallows in a stew, huh?"_

 _There was a silence where we just looked at each other._

" _That, of course, was a joke." Noriko informed me eventually._

" _Well, I'd hope so." I replied, laughing. "Anyway, get pots and pans and things, I'll dig out the ingredients-the proper ingredients, that is."_

" _Cool, got it. Let's make the most awesome stew ever._ Without _marshmallows."_

Inwardly, I smiled at the memory. _We're still friends, aren't we? Even with this, we're still friends. I can't forget that._ So, while everyone kept staring in surprise, I stepped forward, and walked up to Noriko, until I was right in front of her. I paused for a moment then, and she studied my face warily. I took a breath. And then:

"Noriko-Chan, I'm sorry."


	47. Open Book, part 7

_Chieko_

Once I'd made my apology, the room was silent. I could feel the others all looking at me, watching in anticipation as I in turn looked at Noriko, waiting for her reaction. And as for Noriko herself, she blinked, once, twice, a few times, putting a hand to her heart, a quizzical expression on her face.

"…Me?" she stuttered. "You're apologising to…me?"

"Yeah." I let out a sigh, and nodded. "I am. I'm sorry, Noriko-Chan."

"No, no, I'm sorry." Noriko scrambled to say. "It's all my fault, after all. But…I don't get it….you don't all hate me now?"

She pointed behind me and I finally turned back around. Shizuka was staring at us all wide eyed and curious, still holding the packet in her hands. The others were still clustered around the table, Wakana shooting encouraging looks at Noriko, Hokuto staring at the ground or the table or the roof-anywhere, except for any of us-and the others serious but not betraying any particular reaction. When Shizuka caught my eye, she quickly shoved the popcorn packet at me. I took it, and absently shook it around a little as I considered my answer.

"Well, whatever I feel about …." Another look at Shizuka, and I amended my words slightly. "all of _that_ , we're still friends, after all. I certainly don't _hate_ you."

"Yes, exactly." Akira agreed. "Isn't that right?"

He looked at the others expectantly, as did Noriko, though with a touch more trepidation. Wakana just nodded, while Tyson and Masashi were both quick to chime in with solid agreement. Hokuto didn't respond for a moment, and we all held our breaths, but eventually she nodded and huffed.

"Yeah," She muttered. "Yeah. That's right. "

"And to that end, movie night is still happening." Akira said, as if this was the natural conclusion. _And I guess it is, isn't it,_ I mused.

"I…." Noriko trailed off for a moment. "Really?"

"Yes. Even if there's only two of us." Akira confirmed decisively.

"Four, actually." Wakana interjected. "There'll be four, at the least."

"Number four would be me." Tyson explained in response to Akira's puzzled look.

"Yeah, we kinda fu-fudged up this morning, but still, we're friends like Akamine-tan said so, yeah." Masashi shrugged. "I mean, you've still gotta explain what on earth you're thinking with all this nonsense, but yeah, we're friends. "

"Oh, yeah, of course I'll explain it all." Noriko eagerly said. "That is, if you are willing to hear me out."

"Noriko-Chan, don't worry about that." I reassured. "But, maybe we could leave it until after lunch?"

"After lunch?" Noriko asked, surprised. "Is it already lunchtime?"

"It's close enough." Wakana replied. "We were just talking about what to have for lunch when Kazama-Chan and Ho-Chi came back. "

"Mummy, does this mean you've all made up now?" Shizuka interjected, perfectly highlighting the other reason explanations should wait for lunch.

"Yes, we have." I told her simply, which made her grin happily.

"I'm glad about that!"

 _And I am, too._

 **…**

 _Noriko_

After lunch, once Akira and Wakana had cleared away the plates and washed them up, and once Chieko had sent Shizuka upstairs, we all gathered in the living room. I sat on the three seater, and Wakana sat next to me, while the others used the other seats-though Hokuto and Chieko both opted to sit on the floor instead, for some reason. And then, once we were all settled, we stared at each other, as if we were all waiting for the other to start things off. All things considered, that person should have been me, but my heart was racing, because while Chieko's reaching out had changed things, this didn't magically make everything okay. It wasn't as simple as us having 'all made up now'-as Shizuka had asked (which I was still wondering about)-and I knew that. So I couldn't make myself be brave enough to start things.

Finally, Akira cleared his throat.

"So, we might as well get started." He said. "We'll just hear out what she has to say for now, and then go from there. So, when you're ready, Edano-san."

"I…um.." I took a breath, and hesitated. Then, I felt a hand lightly touch my shoulder, and I turned to look at Wakana.

"It'll be fine." She reassured.

"Mmm." I said, turning back around to look at the others. _Just do it,_ I scolded myself.

"So, my friend, Sachiko-Chiko, I call her, because she calls me Riko-she's a writer. Freelance stuff, articles and reviews and things like that. She wants to write some proper full length books one day as well, but for a while, she was kind of struggling to think about what to write-basically a really bad case of writers' block. She was interested in writing something non-fiction, at the very least, but apart from that…no clue. Anyway, it sort of came to me suddenly one day, that she could write about what happened seven years ago-well, it wasn't quite seven years when I suggested it, this was a few months ago…"

I paused, aware I was rambling. _Even though I practised what I was going to say and everything…_  
The others were all waiting and watching patiently, not really giving much away-though Hokuto was frowning a little, and Akira looked like he was concentrating very deeply, which probably was giving away something. But I didn't really want to think too much about it, or I'd lose the courage to explain myself, and then we wouldn't get any closer to being okay.

Wakana patted my shoulder again encouragingly. _Well, this is going better than this morning, at least. Come on, you can do it._ So I continued.

"The way I thought of it, it was a momentous event, and one that was like the centrepiece of a period of really turbulent times, especially for here, right? So lots of people would at least be interested in knowing more about what happened, never mind sort of feeling some sort of, you know, emotional connection to it all. And they'd be even more interested in finding about what happened from the viewpoint of someone there-especially considering that we didn't even give interviews, or pass on quotes via the Future Foundation or whatever. I mean, back then I didn't want to and I know you guys didn't either. But this was different. "

"How?" Masashi asked. "I can understand what you're saying about why a book about us would be successful, but why is that any better than dealing with a swarm of journalists?"

"Well…." I'd struggled to explain this one, even with Wakana, and I wasn't sure if it made sense. "Because a lot of time has gone by, right? And the way I feel about happened now, it's different to how I felt about things straight afterwards, you know?"

"Yes, that makes sense." Akira agreed.

"Ehh I guess so…." Masashi considered, scrunching his face up in an exaggerated frown. "Yeah, I suppose that makes sense."

"But what _are_ your feelings about it?" Chieko asked. "Those are the logical reasons for the book, but were they the only reason you decided on it?"

I blinked for a moment, playing back what I'd said.

"No, no. It's more like….a final closure. Just getting the story out there." I explained. "I just feel that having it all out there in a tangible form would help me to deal with it. Move on once and for all. "

 _Hokuto_

 _Move….on?_

I stared at Noriko as she said that. _Move on? How does that work? Doesn't moving on mean you don't think about it anymore, that you're able to push it aside?_

"Ah, catharsis." Tyson pronounced suddenly.

Now I stared at Tyson, the same way everyone else had turned to do.

"Huh?" Masashi looked as baffled as I felt. "What's that mean?"

"Releasing your feelings, it's meant to be therapeutic." Tyson shrugged. "It sounds like that to Edano, this book is catharsis. Letting it all out doesn't really work for everyone, and I think what it means to let your feelings out is different for each person it does work for…"

He trailed off, and shrugged. _Catharsis, huh?_

"So between that, and it being a record of history, all in all, I don't have a problem with the idea of a book, really." Tyson concluded after a moment. "So, you have my blessing for it."

Noriko blinked, and stared at him, looking utterly surprised.

"Really….?"

"The way it sounded, I thought it was going to happen whether we liked it or not." I blurted out.

"Ho-Chi…." Wakana started.

"No, you're kind of right." Noriko shrugged. "You see, it's not just for me and my closure, but it's for Sachiko, too. I kinda suggested it to her on an impulse, really, I hadn't even thought about the 'logical reasons' for it, I came up with those later on. But…she helped me a lot, after I came back home. I'm living with her now, and she helped me set up my business, and she's just always been there for me to cry or complain or whatever as I try to deal with all this. Apart from you guys she's basically my best friend. I think I'd have been stuck without her. So, giving her the permission to write about everything that happened was kind of a way of repaying the debt, you know? A way for me to do something to for her, for a change."

"But…" I struggled. "That's exploiting your own experience."

"It's mine to exploit, isn't it?" Noriko responded. "I'm the one who told her she could do it, wasn't I?"

 _Oh. Oh, I get it now._

And just like that, it all became clear to me.

 _Noriko_

I could see the dawning realisation on Hokuto's face-it was almost literally like clouds drifting away and the sun coming out.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Hmmm." Hokuto shrugged, and looked embarrassed. "Yeah. I get it all now. "

"You do?" I asked, not quite sure what it was that she was specifically referring to.

"Yeah. " she nodded. "I do. Your way of coping, it's literally the opposite to mine. But….it's yours, right? I don't really have the right to stop you from doing it, do I? That'd be a little selfish. "

"I…well…." I let out a breath. "I was a little selfish, too. I didn't even think about you guys in all this, or how it would affect you, not at first. I did a little bit, later on, but apart from that….not really. So that's on me, too."

"Well, you could think of it as selfishness, but you could also see it as being kind to yourself." Wakana said gently. "That's important for all of us, just as it's important for us to think of each other. Easier said than done, but you're making a start."

"Yes, indeed." Tyson nodded.

At that, the two of them exchanged a look. I thought of last night once again, and wondered if something else had happened since then, given how much meaning seemed loaded in that look. _Ah, that's not really the issue right now, is it? Though it is intriguing…._

"Yeah, I guess so." Hokuto agreed, still looking faintly wondrous. "Clearly this book is super important to you, not just some thoughtless whim project. So that makes it easier to live with."

I pulled a mock offended face.

"Thoughtless whim? I'm not _that_ bad, surely?" I asked.

"Of course not." Akira said, sounding faintly perturbed. "Spontaneous, sure, but not necessarily thoughtless."

 _Me, spontaneous?_ I blinked for a moment. That didn't really sound like me, now I was thinking about it. _But…the cupcakes, and exploring on the first day of school, and then the party, and the midnight feast? Or maybe not the midnight feast, that was all our ideas, really. But that was all a long time ago….oh, wait, movie night._ Maybe spontaneous was an accurate description.

"Uh, hello?"

I blinked and stared at Masashi.

"What are you spacing out for?" he groused.

"What are you getting all fixated on my spacing out for?" I found myself retorting back, before catching myself. But Masashi just laughed.

"You were daydreaming the day we were taken home, weren't you? I had to come up and get you." He laughed again, shaking his head.

"I was _not_ daydreaming."

 _Okay, so this is a petty hill to die on, but I'm sure as heck not backing down from it._

"Oh, you totally were."

"Was not!"

"You _were_."

"You two…." Chieko tried to be serious, but was failing to hide her own amusement.

"Yes, well, whatever." Masashi huffed, flapping his hand dismissively. "Anyway, I'm aware you're not a complete git, but what was with you just randomly dropping the whole 'I'm writing a book thing' on us this morning? Like, you couldn't have found a better moment to, I dunno, sit us all down?!"

 _Yeah, I got that much._ It might have been an improvement on what Sachiko and I had been considering before: not telling them at all until the book was ready to be released-now that would have been truly selfish. Still, if there was anything I'd go back and redo (assuming the big obvious event wasn't an option), then I'd definitely do a better job of telling them.

"Firstly, what do you mean, not a 'complete' git?" I retorted, pushing away my musing. "Secondly, it's not like I MEANT to do it like that! It just…well, sort of happened."

"Sort of happened." Masashi repeated. "Sort of happened?"

"What, is there an echo in here?" Hokuto asked.

Masashi turned, a death glare clearly in progress on his face-but then, suddenly, his expression morphed as he laughed, shaking his head. I gawped at him, and the others all stared, but suddenly, Hokuto started giggling, and Akira and Tyson were chuckling. Wakana and Chieko were giggling along quietly too. And so, I couldn't help but laugh too. Not just because it really was silly, but because if there was a point where things could magically be okay, then this was it.

* * *

 **I kinda got hit with writers' block halfway through writing this chapter. I managed to power through it to get the chapter to this point, but I couldn't have done more than this, hence it being short. Still, I hope you'll end up liking it anyway :)**

 **Also, song recommendation for this week-'Ref:rain' by Aimer. It's the Koi wa Ameagari no You Ni ED song, and it is beautiful. The anime is, too.**


	48. Scraps of the Past 9

Feeling the wind bite at him, Byakuya Togami wrapped his coat a little bit tighter around him as he stepped out of the building and strode away, not wanting to mingle with the other grievers. He'd come to the funeral, and he thought that was enough. _After all, I'm so tired of funerals._ Tomoki Kitabayashi, one of his IT technicians, had been the latest of the Remnant of Despair murders, another one targeted for having the kanji for 'hope' in his name. Since September 2008, he'd lost seven of his workers to the Remnants of Despair. Salesman Yuuki Moto and department manager Kazuki Oikawa had been amongst the earlier set of victims brutally murdered for their name on their way to or from work at Togami's main office, one of his market researchers Emi Fujiwara had been killed in the Wishing Tree bombing while she'd been trying to carry out surveys, delivery drivers Tetsuro Nakagawa and Hiroto Minami had been caught up in the blast that had decimated three of his warehouses in North Towa, as had another colleague, Tatsuya Hidaka. Then, interpreter Amane Itou had been one of the randomly-targeted murder victims on her way into work in his West Towa offices.

And now there was Tomoki Kitabayashi, whose funeral he was just leaving.

Togami was not someone who got all cosy with his colleagues, learning all the details of their lives and joining them for drinks and dinner outside working hours. Of course he wasn't, not least because he had far too many colleagues for that to even be feasible. But still, they were _his_ workers, and he was a civilised, dignified human being. They had worked for him and allowed the many businesses he had to keep going, and he had provided appropriate wages and good workers' benefits, and had made sure that they were all being treated decently even if he was not directly supervising them. So, even as he bemoaned the severe reduction in his workforce that the various tragedies had been bringing, he sent his hospitalised colleagues flowers and hampers, and gave out reasonable sick leave pay so their families would not be destitute while they recovered. And for those who had died, he attended their funerals.

Of course he did, because he was a civilised, dignified human being as befitting his family name, and because they were _his. His_ workers, his colleagues.

But he was sick of it, bloody _sick_ of it. He had contacts in the police force, knew they were doing all they could, and they had indeed arrested many people who claimed to be a part of the cult who was responsible for it all. But this much crime in any part of Japan was unprecedented, and even if they were used to more crime on an everyday basis, the sheer chaos was enough to stretch any standard police budget. Even government-based taskforces hadn't been able to do a thing beyond the various arrests. And a main culprit had been notoriously hard to pin down-though Togami was sure that it had to be someone with a lot of money, fame and contacts, not to mention bucket loads of charm. _Specific, but not exactly enough to pinpoint an actual suspect._ Even Togami could fit those criteria, but he knew that he sure as hell was not responsible for everything that happened.

When he got to the end of the road, where his car was parked, his driver-who had been standing by the car waiting-sprung up into action and opened the door. Still deep in thought about the frustrations of the past months, Togami gave him a cursory nod as he climbed into the car and took his seat at the other end. His two secretaries, Touko and Shinobu, climbed him behind him, Shinobu taking the middle seat and Touko at the other end, the latter grumbling slightly about wanting to sit next to him, but not making a huge deal of it as they all clicked their seatbelts into place. His driver got back into the driver's seat, and once he was buckled in, started to drive.

"Back to the main offices, Togami-sama?" the driver checked.

"Yes."

"Understood."

Togami reached to the cup holder in front of him, and took the flask of tea, before pouring it into the cup, and taking the cup, drinking it carefully, holding the cup in such a way that it didn't shudder too much with the motion of the car, a skill he'd perfected.

"How long do you suppose this carnage is going to last?"

Togami wasn't sure if this was a rhetorical question or not, but sure enough, two answers came.

"P-probably for-forever, at the rate it's go-going. We're all d-doomed." Touko muttered.

"Hopefully, the police or the government agencies will be able to apprehend a mastermind soon. Though given their track record, I doubt it." Shinobu said with a touch more sanity.

"This is beyond them." Togami stated bluntly. "It's beyond them."

"A-as I said, we're all doomed!" Touko cried out.

"Don't be ridiculous, Fukawa." Togami scolded, though he could understand the sentiment. It did indeed seem like they were doomed. Towa was getting the worst of it, but the other parts of Japan weren't immune either, especially not with the Remnants having such a wide media reach with their videos. Before long, if nothing was done, the entire nation would be plunged into chaos. Into despair.

 _Which is precisely what they want. We can't allow that to happen._

"Right." Togami gulped down the rest of his tea, then put the empty cup back in the holder.

"Touko, start phoning all my Hope's Peak contacts, and the following people." He rattled a list of names, all names of people he trusted, that an ordinary person would assign the label of 'friend' to.

"But before you do that, make sure the boardroom doesn't need to be used for any other meetings. If it does, rearrange them to other meeting rooms, so that we can set up in there for an emergency meeting. Ah, and before I forget, any of our security people or any staff member who has skills in weaponry or fighting, make sure to call them. The meeting will be at 6pm sharp, but if we can start earlier, then all the better."

"A-ah….what is this, Byakuya-sama?" Touko stuttered, even as she pulled out her phone and started to scroll through contacts."

"Shinobu, you can start to assist Touko if you wish, but when we get back to the office, I want you to do some research and pull together a good file on the Remnants and their actions. I will provide you with some materials. After that, you can go back to helping Touko, or you can make sure to arrange refreshments. This will be a long meeting, I don't want anyone nagging me about food during it."

"Yes, of course, but what is this for, if I may ask?" Shinobu asked, looking at him with slightly wide eyes. Touko looked similarly gobsmacked. Normally, Togami would have sighed and snapped at them to pull themselves together, but this time, even as he rolled his eyes, he found himself smiling for what felt like the first time in a while.

 _They won't win. And Kitabayashi, Itou, Hidaka, Minami, Nakagawa, Moto, Oikawa, Fujiwara. Their deaths will be avenged._

"We're going to put a stop to the Remnants of Despair."

* * *

 **And this is how the Future Foundation of this universe was created.**

 **Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave feedback.**


	49. Open Book, part 8

**Sorry this is slightly late-the Doc Manager was playing up yesterday. FF really seems to have become a little buggy over the last few weeks. But in any case, it's working now, and it's only a day long delay so I guess it's okay.**

 **Anyway, as always, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 _ _Chieko__

Catching my breath, I stretched my legs out absently as I calmed down, and looked around at the others, who were all still in a merry mood. The tension from this morning was all gone, at least as far as I could see, and I was glad.

"Well, good to see that's all cleared up now." Akira said seriously, though he was still smiling.

"Yes, indeed." Tyson agreed.

"Good." Wakana looked relieved. "Good."

"Yeah, I'm pleased too." I said. "But, Noriko-Chan, can I ask you some more practical questions about the book?"

"Sure, go for it?" Noriko replied cheerfully, tilting her head curiously.

"I know the book's about what happened to us, but what specifically will you talk about in it?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, that's probably a useful thing to ask." Masashi said absently.

"Ah, of course. Well, I don't really think it's anything to worry about, it's mostly just my viewpoint on things, really. "Noriko explained. "So like a small background of my life leading up to the killing game, so the stuff that got me into Hope's Peak in the first place, my childhood, blah, blah, blah. And then the events of the killing game, from my own point of view."

"Not a comprehensive account of what happened." Tyson added absently. Noriko blinked at him for a moment.

"Well, of course not." Hokuto butted in. "She wasn't everywhere at once, was she?"

"No, I didn't mean it like that." Tyson hurriedly clarified. "It was more an observation-that means it's more a personal account, and that is no bad thing, not a bad thing at all."

"Right." Noriko blinked, still a little nonplussed. "It's just everything that happened from my point of view, my feelings, my reactions, all of that, about the entire game, and escaping."

I considered this for a moment. If it was just events from her viewpoint, as opposed to a more complete picture, then she wouldn't be digging up our specific memories as such. We wouldn't be hounded too much, because the point would be that it was her story of what had happened to us, not the collective story. And also, if we'd each wrote an account of what had happened, from our personal views, with the different things we specifically experienced, there was no doubt they'd be unique stories. The things she hadn't seen, that were specific to me and Koutarou only, I wouldn't need to see that splashed out in print, it wouldn't be turned into something lurid. _But…._

"So…you don't need anything from us?" I asked.

"I…no…?" Noriko frowned. "Not really, because it's from my view of things, not yours. "

"What about afterwards, though?" I asked. "I mean, you'll have some stuff about what happened after we escaped and while we were recovering and stuff?"

"Well, of course. There's definitely going to be stuff about how it felt to find out that we'd been lied to, that the world was fine, and meeting Future Foundation guys, and learning about our memory wipes and stuff. Ah!" Noriko suddenly sat up straighter.

"I wouldn't be mentioning anything about when you told us you were expecting Shizuka, or anything about her at all." She clarified. "Even though that was probably quite a revelation of its own."

"Wasn't it just?" I said dryly. Then, I sighed.

"But…."

"You're still not happy?" Noriko pulled a face. "Ah….."

She thought for a long moment, and I waited, wondering what she would say. I knew that I could trust she wouldn't mention Shizuka if I didn't want her to, and as far as shielding her from the book's existence went, I would do that the same way I made sure she didn't come across anything inappropriate for her age, as far as my remit as a parent went. It probably wouldn't be too hard, if the point of the book was that it was Noriko's specific story of the killing game. And it wouldn't be a permanent shielding, either-my stance on that had changed by now-but that didn't mean I should just reveal it all in its painful, twisted glory right now, when she was still so young. Still a child.

"Well, " Noriko said suddenly, startling me. "I could always call Chiko-if she's free right now, then you could tell her what you're worried about, and you can figure something out. "Truth be told, in some respects she's the better one to ask, anyway, because she's writing it and all."

"It's your idea." Masashi pointed out.

"Well sure, but I'm no writer. If I was, _I'd_ be writing it. Probably. "Noriko shrugged again.

Masashi sighed exaggeratedly as he considered this.

"Well, that's fair enough." He concluded.

"So, Chieko-Chan?" Noriko asked me.

"I….well, perhaps…."

I hesitated, and looked up at the ceiling. I wasn't sure if our room was directly over the living room, but still.

"Chieko-Chan?" Hokuto asked.

I looked back at the others again.

"Ah. Why don't you call that family she made friends with the other day, get her to go over there for a little bit?" Akira said before I could say anything, apparently getting it instantly.

"Higuchi-san?" I asked, though I obviously knew who he was referring to. "I don't know, it seems kinda excessive, and at short notice too…."

"Well, you can always ask, right?" Hokuto said. "And if not, we'll figure it out. Right, guys?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Masashi agreed. "I can keep her occupied if it comes to it."

"I will, too. I've not got much to ask Sachiko-san….actually, what is her surname, Noriko-Chan?" Wakana asked.

"It's Aratama, but she wouldn't mind either way." Noriko answered quickly.

I considered the idea again. _It might be for the best, mightn't it?_ With a sigh, I got up, stretching my arms and legs as I did.

"Alright then, I'll give her a call. Can I give her the address to here, Kazama-kun?"

"Sure." Akira nodded.

"Thanks."

I left the room, and headed straight up the stairs. When I entered our room. Shizuka was on the floor, scribbling earnestly in a colouring book, her colouring pencils scattered randomly around her. She looked up.

"Are you finished now?" she asked.

Stepping carefully over pencils, I went to the bedside table on my side and located the phone.

"What do you think about going to the Higuchis' house for a little while?" I asked her, rather than answering her question directly.

She scrunched up her face earnestly, and considered this.

"Tsubaki-Chan?" she asked. "And Renge-Chan?"

"Yes. You can go around to play with them for a while-you must be getting bored, right?"

"Yeah, I am! I wanna go play with them." She beamed, but then became serious again. "What about movie night though?"

"Don't worry, you'll be back in plenty of time for that." I reassured her.

"Oh, okay. When am I going?"

"Well, I have to phone their mother first to see if she's okay with it." I held up my mobile. "Then we'll be able to decide."

"Oh, okay then."

Smiling again, Shizuka returned to her colouring, while I looked for Sakura's phone number in my contacts. Once I had found it, I pressed 'call' and held the phone to my ear.

It rang a few times, and then she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hi, Higuchi-san. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. What about you?" I asked.

"Ah, same as usual, same as usual. How's the reunion going? Do you need me to mind Shizuka for a little while…"

"Well…that's why I was calling, actually." I laughed a little awkwardly. "Would you be able to take her for a couple of hours? Something's come up…"

I paused a moment, looking over at Shizuka, who was watching me eagerly.

"Ah, she's there with you. Got it. One of these days, after you're finished with your friends, we'll have a proper natter on the phone. But anyway, sure, the girls will be ecstatic when I tell them. I could come to pick her up if you'd like."

"Are you sure?" I asked her. "Won't that be too much for you?"

"Well, you're not staying that far, are you? It'll be fine." Sakura laughed. "Like I said, it keeps me busy."

"Well, in that case, alright. " I gave her the address and then added. "But I'll come over to pick her up, okay? You don't need to do both ways."

"Sure, that's fine. So, shall I come in half an hour? Or an hour?"

"Oh, half an hour's fine."

"Got it. I'll see you then. Bye!"

"Bye."

Sakura hung up, and I tucked my phone into my jeans pocket after locking the screen. Shizuka looked up expectantly.

"You're going. Get ready, because Higuchi-san will be here to pick you up in thirty minutes. "

"Yay!"

Shizuka bounced up, and went to gather her things, and I left the room to go downstairs to tell the others.

 **…**

Sure enough, Sakura arrived after a little over half an hour, with Ayame strapped into a pram. She stared up at me with unblinking eyes.

"Hello." I said to the baby, crouching down slightly and smiling. She blinked at that, scrunching her face up slightly.

"Do you remember Akamine-san, Ayame?" Sakura asked the baby, who giggled in response. "You do, don't you? She's Shizuka-Chan's mummy."

"Thank you, Higuchi-san." I said effusively. "This is a big help."

"Ah, it's not a problem." Sakura said lightly, before looking at Akira, who'd come with me to the door. "You're one of Akamine-san's high school friends?"

"Yes." Akira nodded, holding out a hand for her to shake. "Akira Kazama."

"Sakura Higuchi." She returned, shaking his hand firmly. "It's good to meet you. This is your house?"

"Yes. Akamine-san's told you about us."

"More or less, yes."

"Right. Well, thank you for helping us out."

"Ah, like I said, it's not a problem, not a problem." Sakura smiled as Akira quietly excused himself. "Anyway, Akamine-san, the girls are thinking of baking a cake, is that something she'd like to do?"

I thought of the various times we'd gone to see Andou and how she always enjoyed getting to decorate cupcakes and the like there.

"Oh, she'd _love_ that."

I turned around, about to call for Shizuka when she appeared at the top of the stairs and started to come down, hopping over to me, hiding slightly behind my legs. But when I looked down at her, she was smiling at Sakura.

"Good to see you, Shizuka-Chan." Sakura said easily. "I was just telling your mama, we're going to bake a cake. What do you think of that?"

"I like cakes!" Shizuka answered. "Can I decorate it? I'm good at decorating."

"I'm sure you are." Sakura nodded. "So, you ready?"

Shizuka nodded, but then looked up at me.

"Go on then, go put on your shoes." I told her, smiling.

Shizuka grinned again, and picked up her shoes. Once they were on her feet, she turned to join Sakura and Ayame, but then paused, before spinning back around and coming to hug me.

"Bye, Mummy!"

I hugged her back.

"Bye, Shizuka. Have fun, won't you?"

"Yeah!"

Sakura turned the pram and started to walk down the street, Shizuka by her side. I watched them for a moment as they got further away, and then I closed the door. Making sure it was locked, I then went back to the living room, and just stared at Noriko and Hokuto passing a phone between themselves, and occasionally at Masashi, the former two laughing while Masashi veered between amused and bemused.

"What's going on?" I mouthed at Wakana, who'd since switched places, so she was sitting where Tyson had been. _Huh, I wonder where he is?_

"Oh, hey, Chiko's on the line now!" Noriko called out before Wakana could answer. "We've been teasing Kita-kun."

"I….see?"

Actually, I didn't.

"Well, since you're here, let's put her on loudspeaker!" Hokuto said.

"Sure. Chiko, we're putting you on loudspeaker, Chieko-Chan's here!" Noriko cheerfully said into the phone, before pressing a button.

"So, that's the whole gang then? Well, apart from De Guerre, but that's alright, I said hi to him already."

 _Oh, yeah, he didn't seem too bothered by all this in the first place. Well, I suppose that makes a certain kind of sense._

"Yeah, we're all here now." Noriko confirmed.

"Right, right. Well, Akamine-san, I introduced myself to the rest of them already, but you know who I am, right?"

Sachiko's voice was sweet and light, though not gratingly so. I found myself warming to her a bit.

"Yeah, you're Sachiko Aratama, Noriko-Chan's best friend." _Best friend…_

"Okay, cool, we're all set. So, Riko's told you about the book, hasn't she? Truthfully, I was considering having it kept under wraps until it was ready for release, but honestly, she had the right idea telling you now." Sachiko said. "There aren't any overall objections to the book existing, are there?"

"Chiko!" Noriko protested, looking rather sheepish.

"What?" Sachiko asked, all innocence.

"Oh, never mind, it doesn't matter." Noriko sighed after a moment, resigned.

I blinked for a moment, wondering what her objection was, and then I thought that perhaps it was Sachiko saying that she hadn't planned on having us known until the last moment. The thought of things happening that way was enough to send chills down my spine, imagining how blindsided I would have been. But such a nightmarish scenario hadn't happened in the end, so it was fine.

"No, there's nothing like that." Akira said. "We're aware it's important for both of you in different ways to have this happen, so we won't stop it. "

"Yeah, yeah. Truthfully I was pretty surprised when Riko said that I could write about it, but you know, it's helping her as much as it's been helping me. That, and it's an honour, really, to be able to write about this important event that affected someone important to me. However it ends up turning out, know that I am taking this seriously and I'm treating it with the respect that it deserves."

There was a moment of respectful silence given for Sachiko's words to settle.

"Ahem, so anyway, what do you guys wanna know?" Sachiko asked.

"I, well. I only really have a quick question, so I'll go first, if that's fine." Wakana piped up eventually.

"Sure, sure, Abe-san. Fire away!"

"I, well….basically, will you make sure to remember our dead in this?"

"Huh?" Masashi gave Wakana a bug eyed look.

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand." Sachiko echoed his confusion.

The others looked confused too, and I couldn't really blame them, because I was a little baffled too. But I had a feeling that I did get it, deep down. Wakana blushed slightly, and looked down at her lap as she explained.

"I know this is Noriko-Chan's story, and so by extension it's the story of the survivors of what happened back then. But…those of us who weren't that lucky, so to speak. Will you make sure they're not pushed aside in your retelling in favour of…."

"Sensationalism?" Sachiko finished, sounding like she got it.

"Yeah." Wakana let out a breath. "Exactly."

"You realise the very nature of the killing game is sensationalist in itself?"

"Uhh…."

"Sorry," Sachiko apologised. "That was uncalled for. But it's going to be impossible to not make this sensationalist or dramatic, or anything along those lines. I mean, consider the basic set-up from your viewpoint, back when it started."

 _A loud, electrical screeching echoed through the room, cutting everyone off. I covered my ears instinctively, but just as soon as I did, the sound was replaced by that of someone clearing their throat, and then speaking._

" _Testing, testing, one two three! Upupu, okay that's all working! Let's get this started then"_

 _The voice was high and irritating, and sounded faintly artificial, and not just from being blared over a microphone. We whipped around to face the front, since that was where the only microphone was._

 _And just as we did, out of nowhere, a small creature jumped, and settled itself atop the podium, where a glass of water had appeared, also out of nowhere._

" _Good day to you all! I'm Monobear, the headmaster of this school! Nice to meetcha!"_

"-But yeah, even so, I'll do my best to treat them well in this, and make sure they're as focused on as it's possible to be. What I said earlier about treating the story with respect will apply to them too. But how would you feel about a dedication? I could dedicate it to them, in the front."

I blinked, aware I had missed some of what Sachiko had said. But this clearly was the conclusion of it, so I suppose it didn't matter too much.

"A dedication…." Wakana murmured.

"Hey, that sounds like a good idea, actually!" Noriko exclaimed. "I'd like that too, Chiko."

"Well, that's good to know, but since it was Abe-san who brought it up…." Sachiko trailed off.

Wakana looked up, and smiled somewhat sadly, mind clearly a little far. But she was still focused on the conversation, as she answered promptly.

"Yeah, that will be fine. That'll do. Thanks, Aratama-Chan." Wakana got up. "It was good to talk to you."

"Oh, you're going now?" Sachiko asked. "Cool, see you later."

"Wakana-Chan, are you alright?" I asked as she crossed the room and went to the door.

She turned to look back at me, seeming somewhat pensive.

"Yeah, sure. My questions have been answered anyway, so I'm going to go see if De Guerre-Chan needs company."

"Hmmm." I nodded, and left it at that since I didn't know what to say, or even if I should say anything.

"They've been spending a lot of time together lately." Masashi noted absently, once Wakana had left the room.

"Have they?" I asked, staring at him in surprise.

"Yeah, you've not noticed?" Noriko asked.

"I hadn't really noticed either, but ooooh. You think there's something going on?"

"Oh, oh, what's this?" Sachiko sounded interested. "Something interesting happening with those two?"

"Well, Wakana-san did pick Tyson-san up from the airport, and they have been getting along rather well since they got here." Akira observed.

"Well, you're all friends, so I'd hope you'd be getting on." Sachiko remarked dryly.

"Well, sure, but ah, it's a little different. You'd have to be here to see it." Noriko informed her.

"Ah, but does that really matter?" I asked. "If there was anything more to be read into it, they'd probably tell us anyway. "

"Yes, yes, Akamine-san's right, I think we're getting away from the point somewhat. " Akira said. "Even if the speculation is interesting."

He smiled a little at that, but quickly regained his seriousness again. My mind puzzled over the implications of Wakana and Tyson spending time together. Now I was thinking of it, the others were kind of right. But I didn't really see any particular significance to it, beyond that they were particularly close to each other, even within the group. After all, Wakana was my closest friend in our group, and I was sure Akira and Masashi would say much the same about each other. Maybe Hokuto and Noriko, too. There had been different connections between all of us back when the rest of the class had been alive, too. Kanekatsu and Yashiro, Koutarou with Kimihiro and Oshiro, Wakana and Daisuke sometimes with Kimihiro, Koutarou and me, more besides that that I could not quite bring to mind right now. It was just the way of things, wasn't it? _Eh, I suppose I'll let it go now._ I pushed the thought aside.

"Ah, yeah, fair enough, I guess." Sachiko was saying. "Riko can fill me in on the gossip when she comes home-for fun, not the book."

Though I didn't know what she looked like, I could imagine her shrugging as she spoke these words, fairly relaxed about it all.

"Well, I'd hope so." Akira replied, echoing Sachiko's dry remark just seconds earlier.

Sachiko laughed at that.

"Hah, suppose that's fair enough. But anyway, who's next in the query queue?"

"I guess that would be me." I answered.

"Ah, that's Akamine-san, isn't it? Okay, shoot."

So, I did. I explained my worries to her as best as I could, and she probed a little more to make sure she understood what I was saying. The others didn't butt in, except for Masashi a few times, being a little defensive when he thought Sachiko was out of line with something. Which she was, a little, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle-though I was touched that Masashi leapt to my defense so easily. I still thought his high opinion of me was misplaced, but knowing he held it made me feel good. In any case, after talking it through with Sachiko, things eventually got sorted. In talking about her recovery, she wouldn't mention anything about how I was pregnant in that time, just general details of recuperating, and again mostly Noriko centred. Even any epilogue talking about what was happening now wouldn't mention her directly. And when Akira took back over, we eventually came to an agreement that we'd get to read a final draft of the book, before it went out for publication, just to make sure we were fine with what was being said in there. All in all, it went well.

"Well, that's everything sorted then." Sachiko said cheerfully. "Good to get things all cleared up."

"Yes, it is." Akira agreed. "Thank you for agreeing to talk to us."

"Ah, ah, it's fine….well, I kinda wish we could have met in better sort of circumstances, you know? Guess you can't turn time back, though, right?"

"Aint that right?" Masashi muttered.

"Yeah, sure, but perhaps we could organise something another time?" Noriko suggested. "It'd be cool for you all to meet. "

"Maybe if you have a book launch party when all this is finished?" Hokuto suggested.

"Maybe, maybe." Sachiko sounded like she liked the idea. "But I'd be getting ahead of myself if I was thinking about all that sorta thing now. Anyway, I'll leave you to enjoy your time together, and I'll get back to writing this thing."

"Of course. Thanks again, Aratama-san." Akira repeated.

"No problem!" Bye!"

"Bye!"


	50. Movie Night, part 1

_Wakana_

I found Tyson sitting in the garden-or more precisely, on the doorstep by the kitchen door, overlooking the garden. He was reading a book, with a light blue-green cover and the title in bold black and white, proclaiming something in English, though I could only decipher a few letters, since Tyson's hands covered it. He looked up when I opened the door.

"You're finished with Aratama?"

"The others are talking to her, but yeah, I'm finished. " I shuffled a little awkwardly. "Do you want company?"

"Sure, why not?" Tyson responded easily.

He slipped a bookmark between the pages he was on and closing the book, placing it on his lap. Then, he shuffled over and I stepped out, closing the door behind me before sitting down next to him.

"So, did it turn out okay?"

"I….think so." I said after a moment's consideration. "She listened to me, and she said she was doing her best to treat the entire thing respectfully, and that included Daisuke-Chan and all the others. She's also going to put a dedication to them in the front."

"That's a good idea." Tyson said approvingly. I couldn't help but smile a little.

"I thought you'd like the sound of a dedication." I told him.

"Sure." Tyson nodded. "If I was inclined to write a book, I'd definitely do that. It'll probably be the closest thing to a collective memorial that they all have, don't you think?"

A few hours ago, I would have probably disagreed with that, but now, I could agree with him, in a general sense. This book was never something I'd wholeheartedly agree with, but it was for Noriko's sake, not for mine, and both her and Sachiko had met me halfway. I'd make my peace with it.

"Though, with that being said, it would be nice to build something that's for them altogether. Something like the pillar they have up where The Wishing Tree used to be, or maybe like Ueno Hall…." Tyson continued.

I blinked at him mentioning the hall in particular. _Yeah, something like that would be nice._

"Maybe more along the lines of the pillar, the hall already existed, it was just renamed. " I thought a moment. "Or, maybe that thing you made, for one of the anniversaries for the end of the First World War. The scale model of the Western Front, the one that took you five years?"

Tyson blinked right back at me, but didn't respond for quite a while, just studying me for a while.

"Ah, it was the Western Front, wasn't it? The name of the place you recreated…? I might have remembered that wrong, but..."

"No, you remembered right." Tyson interrupted. "But I'd almost forgotten that. Well, not forgotten, but….well, that seems like such a long time ago. And I was such a different person then. I didn't think of that, as an example of a memorial, but it is. You're right. So yes, something like that would be nice, don't you agree? The only question is how, and where, and what form it should take. Or even if it's feasible for me to do?"

"Well, if you can't, you don't have to. You don't need to push yourself like that."

"No, I want to. It wouldn't be a chore or anything like that. I'd probably enjoy it, like I enjoyed making that model."

"Even so. It's not like you have to do something right at this moment, is it? Just let the idea sit in your head a while and come back to it later."

Tyson nodded at this.

"Indeed, you've a point there. Especially as it's just a thought at this stage. Besides," and then he smiled. "I'd be stealing the girls' thunder somewhat if I unveiled something now, wouldn't I?"

I smiled back.

"Yeah, probably." Then, to change the topic, I pointed to the book that he was holding. "So, what's that about, then?"

"It's a language book- _Dent's Modern Tribes_ -it's about the different idioms and phrases and suchlike that various groups of people in Britain use. So like builders, the entertainment industry, whatever. And basically what those phrases mean and how they originated. "

"Oh, that sounds interesting." I replied. Then, something occurred to me.

"Sounds like something that Tsukishima-Chan would be interested in."

Tyson looked down at the book for a moment, staring at its bright cover before turning back to me.

"Truthfully, I think that's why I bought it." He confessed. "I'm interested in this sort of thing too, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure if that interest comes from me originally, or if it's influenced by her. Either way, when I picked it up and read the back, I did find myself thinking that I'd like to show it to her…"

 _And then, you remembered that you wouldn't be able to._ I knew how that felt, all too well.

"Sometimes, when I hear some of my older pieces on the radio, I find myself thinking I'd like to tell Daisuke-Chan about it. Or when I'm working on a piece, I catch myself preparing it to show to him so he can help me with it." I told him.

"Yeah. It's probably natural, isn't it, to wonder things like this. "

"Yeah…"

"Which has me wondering…."he pursed his lips for a moment, then let out a breath. "What do you think they'd think of Edano's book?"

 _If none of this had ever happened, then there wouldn't be a need for a book in the first place. But if everything had been the same, and some of the others had survived too…? Or even…._

"Do you really think that they're up there, or somewhere, looking over us?" I asked, a little sharper than I would have liked.

Tyson gave me a long look.

"I'm not sure, in truth. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't…but let's say they were."

 _Theoretical. I can do that._

"Erica-Chan would be all over it, for sure." I grinned slightly at the thought. "If she was actually alive, I wouldn't be surprised if she decided to write something herself. Or turn sections of that notebook she had into it…"

"I think Hibiki and Usami, they'd be excited too, maybe." Tyson considered. "They'd probably be supportive of it. Arata as well, possibly."

"I'm not sure about Usami-Chan, as such. I don't think she'd want to think about it, so much. "I disagreed. "Maybe she'd tell Noriko-Chan to go for it, but try to have as little to do with it as possible. "

"I suppose so. Tsukishima would probably be similar, I think. "Tyson said, nodding. "I can't imagine Nobunaga or Inoue even caring much in the first place."

"No…neither can I." I admitted after a long pause.

 _Maybe I can't do theoretical after all. It still feels insensitive._

The conversation tapered off, and I looked out across the garden-at the clothes swinging gently on the washing line, the grass stretching out, the fencing surrounding it. And the sky, blue and boundless.

"The sky's nice, isn't it?" Tyson asked, clearly paying attention to where I was looking. "At night, you must be able to get a good view of the stars, when it's clear."

"Yeah, probably." I considered. "I don't really stargaze, though."

"I can't say I do, either. Then again, living in the middle of London, there's not really a good place to see stars properly. Especially since half the time there are clouds around."

"Hmmm."

"But, with that being said, I don't really mind." Tyson continued. "After all, there was a time when it was hard to believe we'd ever see the sky again. "

 _The greenhouse was huge and spacious, with plenty of room to walk around even with all the plants everywhere. Chieko walked over to one table of them, and started to examine the leaves, though it seemed more a reflexive reaction than anything else, really. As Tyson went to examine other parts of the greenhouse, I joined Chieko, and watched her for a few moments as she looked at the plants. I was about to ask her what she was thinking, when suddenly, she looked up._

" _It's bright in here." She said._

" _Huh?" I looked around me. "Yeah, you're right. We didn't switch on any lights when we came in, did we?"_

" _No…" Chieko also looked around, and then she pointed upwards. "There."_

 _I looked at where she was pointing-the windows, and the skylight. And not a single one had a steel plate affixed over it. Instead, they were blue, and bright, with soft clouds scattered here and there._

" _I…are those windows open?" I gasped. I stared, and then frowned. "No, wait."_

" _What is it, Ma'am? Are you in need of assistance?"_

 _Tyson came over, carrying a plump, brown-feathered chicken who didn't seem particularly bothered by being handled._ I'll question that later….. _He looked up in the same direction we were looking._

" _Oh. So they painted the windows rather than plating them? That's…interesting. "_

 _Chieko's shoulders slumped, and for a moment, her fingers furled and unfurled, as if attempting to grasp at the blue. Then, she sighed, and let her hand fall back to her side._

" _I want to see the sky again." She murmured, disconsolate._

" _Yeah," I sighed. "Me too."_

From the way he stretched his hand out towards the sky for a moment, I guessed that this was what Tyson was remembering too.

"It's so strange to think that, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes, it is."

"Would you like to see what the sky at night looks like from here?"

At that, I blinked.

"What?" was all I could ask, surprised.

Tyson laughed, slightly self-consciously.

"I mean, we've been up together most nights anyway, so maybe we could sit out here instead of in there. It's summer, after all. "

"Oooh." I thought about the idea. "Then we could look at the stars. That would be nice. When, though?"

"Well, of course not tonight. What about tomorrow night?" Tyson suggested.

"Alright then, it's a date."

"I'll look forward to it."

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

When the call ended, I let out a long breath.

"Wooh, glad that's all over."

"Yes, I am too." Noriko agreed. "I'm glad we managed to sort that all out with no bad feelings or anything…"

"Well, of course we would have. Like I said, you're not a complete git. Besides, we're comrades, aren't we?" Masashi snorted.

Akira nodded easily at that.

"Yes, we're the SHSL Survivors, after all." He said. "We might have disagreements and all, but at the end of the day we're still friends and comrades."

"Hear, hear." I chimed in.

Truthfully, I wasn't so hot on the 'SHSL' part of the label anymore. We were just 'Survivors', the way I saw it. But honestly, it wasn't something I felt too strongly about anyway. Whatever precise wording we chose, there was something about the relationship we all had that deserved its own special label, something to elaborate upon the usual labels of 'friend' and 'comrade' (both of which naturally applied). And, when looking at it the way I was now able to look at the idea of Noriko's book, I supposed that for some of the others, the name was something that held more meaning for them. Akira, in particular, I could tell embraced it. After all, he had been the one to come up with it, all those years ago as we sat in a sitting room in Byakuya Togami's guest suite, making plans for keeping connected in the future.

 _I guess it worked, in a way. We're all here, after all._

"So then," I grinned. "Movies?"

"Yes!" Noriko punched the air. "So, what movie should we watch? What do you even have?"

The last question was directed at Akira, who got up and went over to where he kept all his DVDs, and proceeded to pull them all out, carrying them over in small piles. I recognised some from when Masashi, Chieko and I had been searching through for that anime series we'd ended up watching. Smiling enough on the outside, I grinned a little more on the inside, remembering how Chieko had fallen asleep and the revelations that had resulted in.

"Hold on, shouldn't we get Wakana-Chan and De Guerre-kun first?" Chieko blurted out.

… _.oh yeah, there's them, too._

"I'll do it!" I volunteered, jumping up quickly.

"Why are you so excited?" Masashi asked me grumpily.

"No reason, no reason at all." I grinned.

Masashi narrowed his eyes at me for a moment, then sighed and flapped his hand dismissively at me.

"Fine, whatever."

I left the room, and paused for a moment, wondering where they might be. _It'd probably make more sense to look down here first, before going upstairs,_ I thought after considering the matter for a moment, so I headed to the kitchen. They weren't at the table, or standing by the counters, and I would have swiftly turned on my heel and headed upstairs if I hadn't remembered that the garden was a thing and looked over at the back door. Sure enough, they were in the garden, sitting on the step, talking, their backs to the door.

Rather than cross over and open the door, I hovered where I was, watching them, well aware that all they had to do was turn around and they'd notice me there. But the appeal was irresistible. They were sitting so close together, and looked completely at ease with that fact. And at ease with each other in general, for that matter. _Oooh, I wonder what they're talking about._ Their expressions changed a lot, as if they were discussing all sorts of things.

 _Is this another happy ending? I hope it is?_

"Ho-Chi, why are you standing around so creepily like that?"

I turned to see Chieko staring at me with a quizzical expression.

"Did you come to look for me?"

"…no?" Chieko shrugged. "It just occurred to me the clothes may be dried now. Anyway, what's the big deal?"

"What do you think the story is with them?" I asked, gesturing over.

Chieko rolled her eyes at that.

"Who knows? You'll have to ask. Or perhaps just wait and see?"

"Nah, I won't ask, there's no conclusive evidence for anything, yet. But, a girl can dream, right?"

"Yes, indeed." Chieko responded deadpan.

I wondered what she would think if she knew I was rooting for her and Masashi, but of course I was not going to tell her that, so I just stuck my tongue out playfully at her and went over to the garden door. I opened it, and Tyson and Wakana both looked up in unison.

"Oh, are you all finished now?" Tyson asked.

"Yep." Chieko said from behind me. "Excuse me."

I stepped aside to let her through, and she went over to the washing line to feel the clothes.

"The first load are dry, the second aren't quite yet. "She reported back, returning. "I'll check back on them later."

"Alright, sure." Wakana replied. "Did everything go alright?"

"Yup, it's all cool!" I declared. "We're picking out the movies now. Come, you need to choose too."

"Of course."

Tyson closed the back door, and we went back to the living room, and went straight to where the other three were already sorting out DVDs boxes into piles.

"Before you ask, that's the reject pile." Noriko said, pointing to the largest one as we all sat down.

"Why?" Tyson asked.

"Because most of them aren't even movies." Noriko responded, as if this was perfectly obvious.

"Right, sure." I nodded. "But what sort of movies are we picking anyway? And how many?"

"Well, at least one or two have to be child friendly, right?" Masashi said, looking over at Chieko, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, two at the most is fine. I don't think she'll be able to stay awake for more than that, no matter how excited she is."

"Right," Noriko agreed. "But also if they're rather long movies we shouldn't need too many, maybe three at the most, four at a stretch?"

"That makes it sound a bit more like a movie marathon night, rather than just a movie night specifically, doesn't it?" Chieko remarked.

"It does, kinda." I said, nodding. "But, I don't think it matters."

"Yeah, exactly!" Noriko said with a big smile. "It's still a night with a movie!"

"Yes," Akira replied. "It is indeed."

So we spent some time debating the pros and cons of various movies, making the reject pile wobble precariously, even more so when one of us or another changed our minds and went to retrieve one from the pile, or put some more back there again. Eventually though, we managed to whittle down the choices to five.

"But," Akira cautioned as he started to clear away the rest of the DVDs. "We don't need to watch all of them. "

"It'd be cool if we could, but yeah, naturally. " Noriko agreed enthusiastically.

"Besides, it'd probably be bad for our eyes, watching _five_ movies back to back." Chieko added.

"Oh, don't I know it?" I pulled a face at this.

"My eyesight is already crap anyway, but hear hear." Noriko chimed in, almost airily.

"Well, it's not like you want to make it any more worse, do you?" Tyson pointed out..

"Course not!"

"Guys, the DVD tower is toppling over!" I called out, as I spotted it doing so.

Quickly, Tyson got up and went over and held it in place.

"Phew, that was close." Masashi remarked, going over and grabbing a pile off the top to put away. "Why did we pile them all up like that anyway, isn't that just asking for disaster."

"Yeah, probably, but it's averted now, right?" I said.

"You really are in a good mood now, aren't you?" Masashi snarked at me.

"Yep."

Masashi sighed and shook his head.

"Well, guess that's a good thing."

"Well, of course it is." Wakana said. "Here, let me help with the rest of that."

Wakana went over, and between the four of them, everything else was quickly tidied and put away. Chieko put the chosen DVDs on the coffee table, and then glanced over at the clock.

"Time to pick up Shizuka-Chan?" I asked, watching her.

"Hmm…not quite yet. Wakana-Chan, the clothes?"

"Huh?" Wakana looked over. "Yes, they'd probably be dry now. Let's go then."

The two of them left the room, and we all looked at each other.

"So, what now?" Noriko asked.

"Well…." Akira considered this for a moment.

"I've got some playing cards, perhaps we could play something?" Tyson suggested.

"Yes, that's a good idea." Akira agreed.

"Sure, let's go for it." Masashi said.

"I second-no, wait, I third that!" I answered.

"Alright then, I'll go get them."

Tyson left, and we gathered around the coffee table. And, as we chatted and laughed, I was thinking: _I'm so glad I'm here_.

* * *

 **Hokuto is basically the group shipper-I think she'd be fangirl squealing if she actually heard Wakana and Tyson's conversation. Whether that's internal or external squealing, well, who knows?**

 **The book Tyson's reading is by Susie Dent, and it's basically what Tyson described it as. I chose it for no other reason than the fact it's a book I'd had borrowed out from the library when I was writing this chapter. But it was a fairly interesting book.**

 **Anyway, you'll have noticed that I haven't actually named any movies that they've picked, and that's actually because I've not decided any particular ones. I'm not very knowledgeable about movies, so I'm still trying to decide. But, do any of you have any suggestions of what movies they could watch? If you do, give me your suggestions in a review or a PM, and maybe I'll use them :) The only criteria is that if you're going to suggest all five, two have to be kid movies, and either way, it needs to be plausible that the movie could have been on DVD in August 2017 (so not any overly new releases).**

 **So, well, yeah. I'll leave things at that. As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave feedback!**


	51. Scraps of the Past 10

**Replies to guest reviews:**

 **Ochuu: Eh, movie suggestions don't necessarily have to be Japanese in origin-after all, international releases are a thing, right? But anyway, thank you for those suggestions-Studio Ghibli is always a good choice :)**

* * *

Hibiki Kazama liked doing this sort of thing.

It was not the first time in the school year that they'd done a class party for someone's birthday, but there was something extra cool about doing a joint thing. She was used to having joint celebrations for her birthdays, due to being a twin, but it was just as fun when the two people only had the same birthday due to coincidence, like with Kanekatsu and Oshiro. Possibly even more so because of said coincidence. The only thing was that she didn't really know them as well as she knew some of her other classmates the class had thrown parties for, but that was just a _tiny_ detail. Classmates were classmates, after all.

"Hey, do you think we got enough balloons?!" Shiro asked.

"You really think now's the right time to ask, now we're almost back at school already?" Noriko deadpanned.

"Ah, I'm sure it'll be fine, we got loads!" Hibiki chimed in. _Ah, Rika-Chin would know how many to get._

She'd tried to get Akira to help her and the others with the decorations shopping, but he'd been busy with some student council stuff, and no amount of wheedling would have changed that. It sucked, but it was okay. She could try to do some things without her brother, couldn't she? At least she hadn't been assigned to the decorations _alone_ -that would have been the _worst_.

"Ah, but it's okay, right? We can just save any leftovers for the next birthday!" Noriko concluded eventually, snapping her out of her momentary funk.

"Whose birthday is coming up next anyway?" Shiro wondered.

"That's a good question!" Hibiki agreed. "Um…."

Rushing through the gates and heading to the building entrance, she swung her bags eagerly as the three of them tried to remember whose birthdays had gone and whose were coming up. They continued a little while even as they got inside and started to head up into class, but eventually she got bored, and found her mind wandering to all sorts of things. _Ah, it's gonna be so much fun, I just hope they like it…ah, who's that?_

Though she was behind Shiro and Noriko, Hibiki was the first to spot the red-headed woman standing at the top of the stairs, leaning against the wall and writing something. Dressed conservatively in a checkered dress, she looked old enough to be a teacher, but Hibiki didn't think she'd seen any teacher who looked like this person did.

Just as Shiro and Noriko got to the top, the woman seemed to decide something and straightened, cutting across their path.

"Oh!" the woman exclaimed, before staring at them.

"Who are you?" Hibiki asked her, curious. "Are you a new teacher?"

"Teacher?" Shiro echoed, excitedly.

The woman blinked at them for a moment, looked down at her notebook for some reason, flicking back a few pages, before looking up at them.

"Oh, no, no! I'm just… visiting! I was a former student, actually…..though well before you guys were born…or somewhere around then, anyway." The woman laughed, though she started to look a little confused part way through her sentence. It was a little weird, but maybe she was tired or something.

"Oh? What was your talent?" Noriko wanted to know.

"Analyst." The woman made it sound like a question, just a little bit.

"Ohh, that means you're pretty smart then, huh?" Noriko nodded. "What sort of things do you analyse?"

"Everything, really."

"….everything?" This didn't make very much sense to Hibiki, and a quick glance at Shiro and Noriko suggested that it didn't seem to make much sense to them, either.

"So, what….what are the three of you doing, Hibiki-Chan, Shiro-Chan, Noriko-Chan…..looks like you're heading back to class?" the woman asked.

"Oh, class's finished! We've just been shopping for birthday supplies!" Shiro chimed in. "It's our classmates' birthday!"

"Oh, I see….wow, you really are all close, aren't you….." the woman blinked, staring at them.

"Yeah, we're busy prepping for the party, so we'd probably best go, actually. It was good to meet you-uh, we never did get your name." Noriko butted in.

"You didn't?" The woman blinked rapidly for a long moment, before shrugging. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's Ryouko Otonashi. But I'll leave you to it, then. Wish….uh, Kanekatsu-Chan and Haruto-kun a happy birthday, okay? And I'll see you soon."

Hibiki thought she caught a flash of something dark in Ryouko Otonashi's expression as she started to go downstairs, but before she could really process it, Noriko was raring ahead, pounding up the stairs, and so she and Shiro had to rush to catch up.

"Woah, let us catch up!" Hibiki called.

"Oh, right, sorry!"

Noriko slowed down a little, but didn't stop moving. When they were both caught up, Noriko fixed them both with a serious look.

"Guys, don't you think that was weird?"

"What was weird?" Hibiki and Shiro asked simultaneously.

"Her." Noriko rolled her eyes. "Otonashi-sempai."

"What was weird about her? She seemed nice!" Shiro protested. Hibiki was about to chime in with her agreement, but something held her back.

"She knew our names already, and called us by first names right off of the bat." Noriko insisted. "Weird, right?"

"Is it?" Shiro wondered.

"Well….." Hibiki thought. "There's the forums, perhaps she visited them and recognised our faces….?"

 _That makes sense, but….argh, Rika-Chin would know, wouldn't he? Maybe I'll ask._

"Oh! Yeah!" Shiro agreed.

"I guess…." Noriko shrugged. "That makes sense, but it's still a little weird."

"Ah, let's not worry about it, we've got a party to prepare for, right?" Shiro said breezily.

"Yeah, exactly!" Hibiki agreed, even as she found herself thinking that it wasn't the fact that the woman had known their names that was the problem. _But what can I even say? It's not like I know what the weird thing is, is it?_

"Hey, guys, is that all of the decorations?!"

The three of them ground to a halt turned to see Wakana, Daisuke and Hokuto a few steps behind them, also carrying bags. Hokuto grinned widely, having been the one to call out to them. For the first time in about a month, she didn't look so droopy, which pleased Hibiki as she grinned back at them.

"Yeah, and the paper plates and things." Noriko answered for them. "You guys got the food?"

"Yeah, that's right." Wakana said.

"Though we also got a packet of paper plates and some plastic knives and forks…it'll probably be too many now, won't it?" Daisuke wondered.

"We were wondering about that! Well, with balloons, but yeah!" Shiro grinned. "We can always keep them until the next birthday, though."

"…I don't think the next birthday's until March though, if I remember correctly-but we can check the list when we're in the classroom. In any case, you're right about being able to keep them for some other use." Daisuke agreed after a moment of frowning consideration.

"Oooh, maybe I could snaffle any spares for the Astronomy Club?" Hokuto said.

"That could work, but let's see how much we need here, first." Wakana suggested.

"Well, yeah, obviously." Hokuto huffed, mock-offended.

For some reason, this made Shiro laugh, which in turn made everyone else laugh too, and they continued to laugh and chat as they made their way to the classroom. There was a part of Hibiki that wanted to bring up Ryouko Otonashi, the conversation and her strange, niggling feelings about it all, but the closer they got to the classroom, the further it seemed to slip away.

"We're back!" Wakana called out, leading the way into the classroom. "How's everything going on in here?"

Spilling into the room, Hibiki dumped her bags onto the nearest chair, and proceeded to pull out what they needed to set everything up. Looking around at her, she wondered once again if she should say something, but the buzzing happiness of the room soon changed her mind. Her friends and classmates, all here with her, doing fun things. What reason was there to be worried, on a day like this?

 _Ah, it's probably nothing._

And with that, she let it slip from her mind, and concentrated on setting up the party.

* * *

 **Yes, Ryouko Otonashi is a real person in this AU, and she has the Analyst talent. Junko, though smart (and twisted, obviously) was only ever the Ultimate Fashion Model. Here, Junko and Ryouko are cousins (and so Mukuro is also Ryouko's cousin, obviously).**

 **I am going to put together a list of the Class 78 birthdays soon, in order of which birthdays would come first in the Japanese school calendar (so April-March), though this isn't necessarily an indicator of who's the oldest (though I might include ages if anyone is interested) and I'll either stick it at the end of an Author's Note in an upcoming chapter, or I'll make it a Tumblr post. Haven't decided yet.**

 **Anyway, yeah, as always, hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	52. Scraps of the Past 11

**Yeah, it's another Scraps of the Past chapter this week. The reasons are in the status update on my profile, so won't bother repeating it here.**

 **The birthday list I mentioned last week is up on my tumblr, if you search the tag for this story on there you should find it, or alternatively go to my archives and it should be under Friday (23rd Feb) as that's when I posted it.**

 **Also, song recommendation: 'Hazy Moon' by Mafumafu. It's gorgeous, and also I feel like it fits Chieko's character/story. I'm gonna link to the song on my Tumblr and ramble a little about why I feel that in the post soon, so check it out :)**

 **But anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Nobuyuki Oshiro paused his game for the millionth time, and finally curiosity overcame his irritation as he got up to look through his window to see what it was. Normally, at this time of day, he'd be in class with everyone else, but he'd decided to skip for the past few days to 'write a book'. Which of course just meant going on a video game spree, but nobody was supposed to know that. After all, for all intents and purposes, he was his brother Haruto.

Though right now, that didn't matter, as what he saw outside was rather surprising. From his flat, he could see the entrance to the building, and right at this moment there were a bunch of very angry high school students swarming around it, being held back by the security guards. Their uniform wasn't that of Hope's Peak, so he wondered why they were there until he looked closer and realised that these were Hope Valley High students. _Ah. Oh, come on, really?_ Oshiro hadn't been living in a hole this past school year, he was well aware that there had been rising tensions between Hope's Peak and Hope Valley High (and aware that given he wasn't Haruto, he technically had more in common with them than with his own class). But he failed to make the connection between that and the scene he was seeing. Honestly, what was rioting going to achieve?

 _Ah, well, as long as they don't actually break in. On that note, I should move away from the window._ Quickly, Oshiro did just that, trying hard to not make too many noticeable motions as he did so. _Should I call someone? No…the security guys have it handled, right?_ He looked over at his mobile phone, sitting next to the materials constituting his next 'idea', materials that Haruto had given to him. He'd taken to laying them out in different ways on the desk when he was skipping, to lend credence to the idea he was actually working if someone happened to drop by. Which didn't happen that often, in all truth and honesty, but the first time he'd skipped, several of his classmates had ended up coming to check on him to make sure he was okay, so-

A sudden knocking at the door made him jump, and he pressed a hand to his chest to calm his heart. _W-wait, what? They're up here already? No, that's not right…._ he could still hear most of the shouting from outside, no heavy footfalls of angry teenagers coming up the stairs or anything like that. So carefully, warily, he padded to the door, and then opened it, keeping the chain on the lock.

"What is it?"

"Ah, thought you'd bunked today, Kouhai!" the cheerful face of the Class 76 student who lived in the flat next door loomed in the gap. The SHSL Banker, or Stock Broker, or something like that.

"So, you gonna let me in, Kouhai?"

Nobuyuki sighed exaggeratedly, but unhooked the chain and widened the door slightly to let him in.

"Sure, Miyamura."

Miyamura bounded straight to the window as soon as he was let in.

"Ah, I knew it, you've got a better view of the action…ah, they're not having much luck, are they?"

"You nimwit, get away from the window!" Exasperated, Oshiro fumbled with closing the door again before rushing over

"Relax, what can they do? They're just getting all het up for no reason. It's not like it's going to change anything, you know?"

"Change anything…?"

"Ah, you know, we're still Hope's Peak and they're still just some public high school that chucked 'Hope' into their name in a sad attempt at getting some reflected glory. No big deal."

"They look pretty pissed to me." Oshiro pointed out, curiosity overcoming him as he cautiously peered around his curtains to see the scene. More security guards had come, and some were physically restraining the students-mostly by holding them by the arms, but one burly boy was being sat upon. Another security guard was standing further away, on the phone but sticking his free hand out, ready to block any attempts to get into the building that way.

"Yes, well….at least it's some entertainment. I've been stuck at the computer all day watching the stocks, I'm so bored and all. And you're busy with a new book, I see, Kouhai. May I look?"

"No."

"Oh, okay, okay!" Miyamura held his hands up in mock surrender. "God, you're chilly for a writer, aren't you? "

Oshiro didn't see the need to respond to this statement, so he didn't. _Perhaps I should pretend to finish sooner than planned and get back to class. They're easier to deal with._ He certainly liked them a lot more than he liked Miyamura. Certainly trusted them a lot more, even if they had no idea he wasn't who they thought he was. Thankfully, the older boy didn't say anything else so they stood there for a while, watching the chaos for a while. Eventually, the sounds of police sirens joined the cacophony as a number of police cars drove in and stopped right in front of the fracas, casting their red and blue lights across the area.

Almost instantly, the Hope Valley High students who hadn't been restrained froze for a moment, the panic in their eyes clear even from where Oshiro was watching them. Then, some tried to make a break for it, but between the police and the security guards, it wasn't long before almost all of them were handcuffed and bundled into the cars. One by one, they drove away, sirens blaring and lights flashing, and the security guards dusted themselves down and slowly drifted away back to their normal posts.

One of them, as he walked, looked up and made eye contact with the two of them. Oshiro held in his breath, but the security guard simply smiled and saluted them before continuing on his way. Once the security guard was out of view, Miyamura turned and grinned devilishly at Oshiro.

"See, what did I tell you? No big deal at all. They're just Hope Valley High students-they'll _never_ cause us any real damage."


	53. Killer Moments: Koutarou Ueda

Koutarou'd told Chieko that he was going to bed early, after the day they'd just had to deal with, and he'd meant it. Really, he had. But he'd soon discovered that he was far too wired to sleep, that the sounds and images of Yukizome, strapped to the chair and being….he shuddered just to think of it, not wanting to give those actions words, even in his own mind. So he'd got up, got dressed again, and left his room again, wandering aimlessly for moments until somehow, he ended up in the empty kitchen.

 _And now I am here, making a sandwich. Why a sandwich, I don't even know._

Blankly, he stared at the ingredients he'd spread out on the counter, holding the two slices of bread in his hand. _Monobear means it, doesn't he? What he did to Yukizome-sensei, he'll do it to Mum too. Or Chieko? Both of them? But Chieko's here with me, so he must mean Mum….no, you idiot. Of course he meant Mum, he even said 'those important people who I videoed for you'…what do I do? I need to get out of here…_

On autopilot, he toasted the bread, found a plate, set about making his sandwich, silently bemoaning the bind he found himself in. _I'm tired, so tired._ He wanted to get out of here, take Chieko with him too, but the only way out was to leave her and he had no choice if he wanted to save Mum. _There's no choice…._

"Oh, hey, I didn't realise you were in here too!"

"Huh?"

Koutarou looked up in surprise to see a grinning Hibiki, still in her day clothes. _Hibiki Kazama, huh?_ His mind started to make connections, buzzing with all the possibilities. Hibiki didn't bother waiting for a response before launching straight into telling him about plans for a midnight feast with most of the girls. He muttered generic responses to show that he was listening, but in truth, he wasn't. Instead, he was waiting. Waiting for the perfect time.

 _Two minutes. Two minutes is all I need._

Eventually, still prattling, Hibiki went into a different section of the kitchen, and tiptoed to open the higher-up cupboards and examine their contents, turning her back to him. And there it was.

Slipping off his shoes so he wouldn't make a noise as he went over, he then took off his belt, careful to not make any noises while doing so. Then, holding the belt as the noose it would soon become, he advanced. Hibiki stopped talking and started to hum a tune that he vaguely recognised as being the theme tune to a comedy anime, but still continued to look through the cupboards.

 _Now. It has to be now. I need this to be over._

Then, before he could change his mind, he struck.

…

He had caught her as she fell, so that she didn't make too much noise as she hit the ground, but he hadn't given too much care to how she'd ended up when he put her down, instead going back to the abandoned sandwich, finishing it up and clearing up after himself while in a bubble.

But as with all bubbles, this one eventually broke when he remembered to put his shoes back on.

 _What've I done?_ Plate in hand, Koutarou walked over and looked down at Hibiki, sprawled out on the ground, her eyes wide open and bulging. _What've I done? What've I done, what've I_ done _?_ He bent down carefully, and then closed her eyes, so that they were not at least looking at him, as if asking why it had to be her.

And why did it have to be her, indeed? The simple reason-because he cared little for her. Okay, so he had nothing against her, as such, and he knew she and Chieko had become fairly good friends. And he had nothing against her brother, either. But….that didn't mean she meant anything to _him_.

 _What've I done?_

There were others, who didn't mean much to him either. But either they had seemed too difficult to take down, or the moment to get them alone had not presented itself. So in the end, it had to be her. And now, he was here with the end result-a death that even he knew was not deserved.

 _What've I done?_

Straightening, he looked down at her one last time, and then scanned the area. The scene was clean, there was no blood to clean up. The only traces of death on her-well, they were generic enough that they couldn't be traced to him.

 _I know what I have done._

Wiping tears away roughly from his eyes, he looked down at himself, and then put the sandwich plate down on the closest counter and in a few broad strokes, dusted himself down so that the few strands of Hibiki's hair that had caught onto his clothes fell away and on the ground. Untraceable to him.

 _I know what I have done, and I need to follow through._

…

Somewhat unsurprisingly, afterwards, he ended up going to where Chieko was, with some of the other girls-specifically, Wakana, Noriko and Erica. He'd known that she'd be with them anyway, not least because of some of Hibiki's final words. And he'd liked the idea of her being surrounded by all of them, as that would keep her safe in a way he could not.

But watching them now, a little part of him felt resentful, disappointed. He just wanted to be with her, to hold her. A strange feeling, that, one he hadn't even considered he'd ever feel, not until after the previous trial and he had been haunted with the possibility of what would have happened if it had been her while she had just been shaken by it all and they had both needed a way to forget. And now, he needed to forget again, but how could he do that? How did one word something like that, when there had been little words during the first and last time?

"Koutarou? I thought you were going to sleep?" Noticing him after a moment, Chieko tilted her head in curiosity and something clenched inside of him, painfully.

 _And I don't deserve comfort, anyway._

"I tried. But I couldn't." He gave a small shrug and gestured to his plate. "I opted for food instead."

"Oh, okay. Wanna sit with us for a bit? At least until Night Time starts?" Chieko asked. Koutarou shrugged again, having to actually put effort in trying to seem languid.

"Sure."

"Ah, you can sit here, I'll budge up a little!" Wakana exclaimed, doing so almost immediately. Koutarou inclined his head briefly in her direction, and then sat down and started to eat his sandwich, staying silent as the girls resumed their chatter from wherever it had stopped when he'd walked into the room. And he watched Chieko, watched the smiles and laughter that he knew so well from so many years of being her friend and next-door-neighbour.

 _Stay alive with me?_ It was all she had asked of him that time, afterwards, her eyes full of an emotion he could not name but could still identify as being in him too. He had said yes without hesitating. He had promised, without thinking, because he had assumed he did not need to think. But look what where he was now. He'd broken it-he'd had to, there was no choice, but here he was now, the shards of the promise digging into his very soul as punishment. He definitely did not deserve comfort. And he didn't deserve to even be here now, sitting with her, watching her.

But at the same time, he knew that however this ended, this would be the last time he'd ever see her happy. And that much at least, he needed to let himself see.

 _Because I know what I've done, and I need to follow through with it._

"Hey, Ueda-kun, did you see Kazama-Chan by any chance?" Noriko asked him suddenly. "She's hunting up our food-oh, yeah, we're having a midnight feast too as well as a sleepover thing, and you know how the kitchen's closed during Night Time and all and blah, blah, blah….but yeah, she might have wandered in while you were making your sandwich, so I just wondered."

"No, I didn't." _Simple, keep it simple, don't make it more complicated or you'll trip over._

"Oh, okay. " Noriko shrugged off the question, and it was all Koutarou could do to not just sigh in relief. The first lie of the many he'd need to tell, and it had worked.

 _Thankfully._

 _Oh, but, Chieko, I'm sorry. I'm sorry._

* * *

 **Koutarou's killer moments chapter was one of the ones people were most interested in seeing when I first put forward the idea for this chapter type, and now here it is! I hope it lives up to expectation :)  
As a side note, with three of the five of these chapters now up, have you figured out the order I've been putting them in? It's not really that complicated, but I'm interested to see if it's been noticed or not.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, please leave feedback.**


	54. Movie Night, part 2

_Chieko_

Walking away, I could hear their laughter.

"Sounds like they're having fun, aren't they?" I commented idly.

"Yeah," Wakana agreed. "I'm glad of it."

"Yeah, me too."

Entering the kitchen, I went to get the basket while Wakana opened the kitchen door, and then we went out to collect the clothes.

"I didn't think it'd be possible, really, to laugh like that again." I mused randomly.

Wakana looked at me questioningly.

"Yet, the others are all laughing so much; I can still kind of hear them from here."

Well, it was pretty faint by now, and it was more the occasional snatch of sound rather than proper hearing. But still, I could hear them, and that was the point.

"And, we've had a lot of moments of laughter here, haven't we?"

"Yeah." Wakana nodded firmly. "We really have. And we'll still be able to, won't we?"

"Mhmm."

We got on with taking down the clothes, folding them and putting them into the basket, so it didn't give me more work later, when I ironed them. Between us, it didn't take that long, and when the last item of clothing was folded, I went to pick it up, but then Wakana took it from me.

"Oh, here, I'll carry it."

"Oh, are you sure?"

"Yeah." Wakana shrugged. "You've got to go and pick up Shizuka-Chan soon, haven't you? I'll deal with this, and ask Kazama-Chan about an ironing board. "

"Okay, that works." I decided.

I thought that was that, but rather than just head back inside, I paused.

"What is it, Chieko-Chan?" Wakana asked almost immediately, not missing my hesitation.

"I…well, if…or when, rather, I end up telling Shizuka a bit more about…about seven years ago, even if it's just specifically about Koutarou…I…"

The question I wanted to ask was an easy, short one: _Will you help me?_ But of course, something seeming easy didn't necessarily mean it was easy.

"I'll help." Wakana said simply.

I just blinked at her.

"Of course I'd help. But, are you sure you're pressuring yourself into it?"

 _What?_ For a moment, I wasn't sure what she meant, and I just blinked at her, but then it dawned on me.

"No, I'm not. And I don't mean right now…help or otherwise, I just can't do that. "I explained. "I just meant, when the time comes. "

"But I thought…" Wakana trailed off. I smiled.

"No, you're right-I did say that I'd prefer she never found out. But, I'm sort of re-evaluating that choice. It might have happened anyway, even without Noriko-Chan's book, you know, because Shizuka's here with us anyway. "

"Hmmm….and maybe you might have ended up thinking about it as she grew older." Wakana suggested.

"Yes, exactly. Plus, the killing game, it's why she exists in the first place, essentially. "

"Oh, but…"

"Yeah, I hate how it sounds too. But, there's no way around it, is it. It's the great contradiction-she's the paradox of my life. But…you know, well…..."

I gave a short, sad laugh, and trailed off, not sure how to finish my sentence. Eventually, I just shrugged. I was always struggling to find the right way to communicate something, yet at times, it seemed like I didn't always need to finish the sentence. Sometimes, unfinished ones conveyed just as much. And this felt like one of those times.

"Chieko-Chan…"

Wakana stared at me. Her expression was sympathetic, but I couldn't mistake the sorrow hiding behind her eyes. It was a lot like the look she'd had with the phone call to Sachiko earlier, when she was talking about remembering our dead.

"Ah, sorry-" I started to apologise, but she cut me off.

"It's fine. I'll help. Just let me know."

"Thanks."

 _That's not enough. That's not enough._

"And you, too." I blurted out.

Wakana gave me a quizzical look at this, and I scrambled to clarify.

"I mean, if you need help with anything, too." I shrugged, reddening a little. "I mean, all these years, you've been helping me, right? So I should be able to return that, too."

"Ah." Wakana mulled over this for a moment. "Well, in that case, thank _you_. Now, we'd better get all of this inside, right?"

"Yeah."

 **…**

When the door opened, I was expecting Sakura to be the one on the other side, so for a moment I was confused when all I saw was empty space in front of my face.

"Mummy! It's you!"

"Oh!"

Jumping a little, I looked down, and sure enough, I hadn't imagined it-it was Shizuka who had answered the door. She looked incredibly pleased with herself, apron dotted with flour and icing, but surprisingly not that messy.

"How come you're answering the door?" I asked.

"It's okay, Tsubaki-Chan's mummy said it was okay, because of it probably being you. Anyway, come, you need to see the cake!"

"Ah, right, sure. Then, I'm coming in!"

Despite my mild misgivings, I stepped in, closed the door firmly behind me, and took off my shoes.

"Shizuka-Chan, is that your mother?" I heard Sakura's voice call down.

"Yes, it's me." I called back out.

"Okay, I'll be down soon, you make yourself comfortable."

"Ah, sure."

"Mummy, _come_." Shizuka insisted, pulling my trouser leg.

I obliged, and was led into the kitchen, where Renge was standing at the sink, washing up bowls and dishes, and Tsubaki was attempting to put the pieces of a weighing scale into a cardboard box.

"Oh, hi!" Tsubaki said. "Mama's changing Ayame's nappy."

"Ah, I see." I nodded.

"The cake's on the table. We all decorated it. " Tsubaki informed me.

Sure enough, there was a cake on the table, and though I could see that well enough, I let Shizuka drag me over to look at it. It was a rather chunky cake, clearly meant to be round but a little lopsided in its shape, covered all over in light pink icing, decorated with swirly icing patterns and some icing flowers, hundreds and thousands sprinkled liberally all over this. Some of the leftover icing from covering the cake had been used to make three animal models-a dog, a cat and a rabbit-that just sat in the middle of the cake, also covered in hundreds and thousands.

"What sort of cake is it?" I asked.

"Chocolate!" Shizuka and Tsubaki chorused in unison.

"There's icing in the middle too! Pink _icing_." Tsubaki informed me.

"I wanted purple," Renge called over. "But I was outvoted. It's okay thought, I like pink too."

"I see."

I was just about to ask them how they wanted to divide up the cake, when I felt a tugging on my jeans, and looked over to see Shizuka.

"Do you think Shun's mummy would like this cake?" she asked, wide eyed. "We tried to make it look pretty and everything."

I glanced back over at the cake. Andou's confections were pretty, and often pink like this cake. But this, there was no mistaking this for something professional-it was clearly the work of children. Yet, that was what made it perfect.

"Yes, I think so. How about we take a photograph of it before we cut it up, and then we can show her once we're home?" I suggested.

Shizuka beamed and nodded, so I took out my phone and took a couple of pictures of the cake from different angles. Shizuka wanted to take one as well, and so did Tsubaki, and then Renge finished washing up and wanted to have a go too, so by the time Sakura came down with Ayame, there was more or less a photoshoot happening for the cake.

"Photoshoot?" Sakura asked, echoing my thoughts perfectly.

"Well, the cake deserves the attention." I shrugged. "Plus, we're going to show the cake pictures to a friend when we get home."

"Oh, the one who's a confectioner? Shizuka-Chan mentioned her-well, mostly her son, but yeah." Sakura shrugged back at me. "So, how did things go?"

It took me a moment to remember the reason I'd asked Sakura to have Shizuka in the first place.

"Oh, right, yes, it was fine in the end. I'll call you one day and tell you more about it."

"Sure, sure. " Sakura nodded. "So, anyway, we only ended up making the one cake, so how do you want to do this?"

We spent the next few moments debating how to share the cake, and in the end went for the most obvious option-half for them to keep, half for us to take-and cut the cake up into slices and put them into plastic boxes. Renge found us a plastic bag to put our two boxes in, and then we were set to go.

"Will you be going to the festival on Saturday night?" Sakura asked me as we were about to leave.

"Yes, all of us will be. What about you?" I asked in response.

"Renge's going with some school friends, so I might take Tsubaki and Ayame there as well, just so we're not stuck inside and bored. We'll see."

The response was casual, but I could tell that really, Sakura felt anything but. _Eighteen months,_ I thought, _long enough that this isn't her first summer without him. On the other hand, don't they say that the second anniversaries are actually the harder ones, not the first one? Because everyone expects all the firsts to be hard, but then that support drifts away afterwards, as by then people expect you to get over it?_ On the other hand, it was not like I really knew. All anniversaries-Koutarou's birthday, the day of our escape and the days leading up to it-had been hard, and that hadn't changed even with the seventh. _And I am lucky, that there are the others as well, to know how it feels, who don't assume that I'm over it after a year's gone by._ Either way, it left me with the power in this situation-the power to be the helper, not the helped.

And I would use it well.

"Okay. " I nodded, matching Sakura's nonchalance. "I'd have to check with the others to see if they're okay with it, but maybe you'd like to come with us?"

Sakura stared at me for a moment, assessing me as she had the first time we'd met. And then, though her expression overall did not change, I could see understanding dawn. _A couple of struggling widows._ That's what we were.

"If you're cool with it, then maybe. We'll see. Either way, I'll see you later then."

"Yes, see you later."

"Bye-bye!" Shizuka called out as Sakura shut the door.

I took her hand in mine, and we turned away and started to walk down the road.

"So, did you enjoy yourself today?" I asked her as we walked.

"Yup!" Shizuka said earnestly. "I still want to go to movie night though."

"Of course you can-I said that it would be fine, didn't I?" I reminded her.

"Oh?" Shizuka scrunched up her face for a moment, and then giggled. "Yeah, you did. What movie are we watching?"

"Well, we're going to start off with _Kiki's Delivery Service_." I told her.

Shizuka thought about this for a moment, and then beamed again.

"Jiji!" she said, delighted.

"Yep." I agreed.

"When we get a cat, if it's black I'm going to call it Jiji." Shizuka informed me.

I decided not to debate the likelihood of us getting a cat in the near future, and smiled at her.

"That would be a perfect name for a black cat."

"And if it's a white cat, I'll still call it Jiji anyway." She continued.

"Why?" I asked. "What about….?"

My mind blanked for a moment as I tried to remember the names of any white cats that Shizuka could vaguely be aware of. _It's a shame that Kazama-kun didn't have The Cat Returns….didn't that have a white cat in it?_

"'If you wake up in the morning and see a white cat, it's me'."

It took me a second to realise she was quoting something, and then as soon as I realised that, it all came together, and I couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"I see. But what if the cat was black _and_ white?"

"Like the kitties in Akira-san's garden?"

"Yes, like those."

"Hmmm…..then, I would have to think about it when I see the cat."

"I see."

Shizuka then launched straight into stories of how they'd made the cake, in a lot of rambling detail. I listened, nodding along but mostly just letting her do all the talking, and eventually, the subject changed again. Or, sort of changed.

"Renge-Chan and Tsubaki-Chan talked a lot about their daddy, too."

Shizuka gave me a hesitant, sideways look at this. I sucked in a breath, forced myself to be as neutral as I could.

"They did?"

"Yeah. They showed me photos-you know, the ones on the fridge."

"I know the ones."

 _Breathe, Chieko, breathe._

"So, what did they say?"

"Lots of things. Like, he was funny, and he knew magic tricks, and he could do all the voices in their books. He used to call them and their mummy the flower girls, because all their names are flowers. Even Ayame-Chan's name is a flower, though their daddy didn't get to meet her-they chose it while she was still in the tummy. Did Daddy help to decide my name?"

"I…uh…no, he didn't." I managed to stutter out. _A question already?!_

"Why?"

"Well…he didn't get a chance to decide a name. He didn't know that you were going to be born. "

"Why?" Shizuka asked again, frowning. "You didn't tell him?"

"I…even I didn't know. Even I didn't know that you were growing inside me, not until after he died."

This seemed to shock Shizuka into silence, but I could see the question in her eyes, so I scrambled to try and find an explanation.

"You were small, and hiding, and babies have to grow a little bit before their mummies know about them."

"How small was I?"

"Very, very small."

"Like a kitten?"

"No, smaller than that."

Shizuka's eyes bugged out at the possibility of being smaller than a kitten.

"Then, like a bird? Those really tiny, round ones that go hop-hop-hop?"

"Probably, I gue-"

"Oh, I know!" Shizuka exclaimed, cutting me off. "Like a bean?"

"Yes," I let out a sigh of relief. "Like a bean."

"Ooooh."

 _Well, at least I don't have to think about explaining the facts of life alongside figuring out how to talk about Koutarou._

"So I'm a bit like Ayame-Chan, but not completely."

"Mhm."

"Is it because you're sad about Daddy?"

I stared, not having expected her to hit the nail on the head quite so accurately. Then again, after the past few days, I shouldn't have been surprised that she was starting to understand. And today had clearly made her see the parallels between herself and the Higuchi sisters, especially Ayame, so it was natural she'd wonder. So I nodded silently at her.

"Oh." Shizuka thought about this. "But Renge-Chan says that talking about their daddy helps them feel less sad."

"For some people, it can help. But for me…" I scrambled. "I suppose I would like to talk about him more. But it's hard, because I'm still sad about him, so I have to make sure I'm ready to talk about him before I do so."

Shizuka nodded seriously at this.

"So…will you talk about Daddy when you're ready to?" she asked, looking up earnestly at me.

The request should not have been a surprising one- _we've just been talking about him for the last few minutes, indirectly at least, what did you expect?-_ but still, it knocked my breath away from me. But where before I might have scrambled for a way to distract her from the question, this time, I managed to steel myself and face it head on. _Because I owe it to her._

"Yes, of course."

 _But, I don't know when I'll be ready to. Or even if I ever will._

We were now approaching Akira's house, and I had to hold back a sigh of relief.

"Look, we're back now. Are you going to tell the others about your cake?"

"Yes, but Mummy, do you mean that?"

"About Daddy? Definitely." _Even despite myself._

"Okay." Shizuka nodded.

I spotted a twitching at the curtains as we opened the gate, and sure enough seconds later, the door opened and Masashi was standing in the doorway, grinning. This wasn't his house, but he looked so relaxed he may as well have been the owner. _So wait, would that mean he feels like we're a part of the household or something?_ It was a weird thought to me, but then again perhaps he relished the opportunity to pretend while he could, given that he lived alone. _Most of us do, don't we? It's just me, Noriko-Chan and Hokuto-Chan that get to welcome people home and be welcomed home._

"We're back." I said automatically.

"Welcome back!" he said back. "Did you have fun, Shizuka-tan?"

"Yeah!" Shizuka grinned. "We made cake. Mummy took photographs."

"Oh, this I have to see. Akamine-tan, you gonna show us?"

"Sure, but let us actually get inside first."

"Right, yes."

Masashi let us in, and after we'd taken off our shoes, we went to join everyone else in the living room.

"We're still playing, as you can see." Hokuto told us by way of greeting.

"How many rounds have you gone through…."

"Uh….." Hokuto thought about this for a moment, and then shrugged. "Dunno, but these two have been winning most of the time."

She pointed at Akira and Tyson, giving an exaggerated mock glare. Tyson smiled a little bashfully, while Akira just shrugged as if it were no big deal.

"Well, maybe Shizuka and I will join you, that might change things up a little. I'll go put these in the kitchen first though-and show you the cake pictures."

Shizuka giggled as I mentioned the cake, and bounced a little.

"Of course." Akira nodded.

So I quickly went and left the cake on the kitchen counter, then came back to sit with the others, taking out my phone and finding the many photographs while they gathered around me. And for a while, I didn't need to think about how I would explain our shared history to Shizuka.

…

After the photo exhibition, and a few card games later, Akira, Wakana and Tyson went off to make dinner. After some thinking, Shizuka decided she wanted to help, and went to join them moments later. Masashi, Noriko, Hokuto and I decided to switch to another card game, but Noriko and Hokuto quickly got bored, and somehow that ended up translating into all of us attempting to make a house of cards- _attempting_ being the key word.

"Oh, dang it, you shitflakes!" Masashi yelled as the card house fell down for the fifth time, just as Wakana poked her head around the door.

"Dinner's ready…" she said. "Are you alright?"

"We've been attempting to make a house of cards but it has failed pitifully like, seven times." Hokuto told her.

"Five! It was only five!" Masashi protested. "We'll get it eventually. "

"You thought the idea was stupid when we suggested it though." Noriko said, teasingly.

Masashi's face went through a series of comically exaggerated expressions, presumably in lieu of whatever insults he'd decided to supress. I laughed a little, and he turned to look at me.

"It's fine," I reassured. "You can always try again later on."

"Psh." Masashi pretended to be annoyed, but that lasted all of three seconds. "You're right. You guys go, I'll clear this disaster up-it's not going to take four people just to clean up a deck of cards."

So we left, and sat down to eat, Masashi joining us a few moments later, and we all tucked right in.

"We decided to keep dinner simple and light, since we'll be having snacks for movie night." Akira explained.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Hokuto said. "I'll want to leave space for Shizuka-Chan's cake, after all."

Shizuka beamed at this.

"Yeah, me too." Masashi agreed instantly.

"More food is always good in my eyes." Noriko beamed.

"You always say that." I smiled.

"I do, don't I?" Noriko replied. "But honestly, I'm just excited for this movie night. It's gonna be so much fun!"

"It is, isn't it?" Akira agreed. "It's nice to be able to put some of my DVDs to use like this, rather than just watching on my own."

"Where'd you even get so many DVDs from anyway?" I asked, curious now that I was thinking of it for the first time.

"Hmm, well, some of them are old ones we all acquired over time as kids, you know, like birthday presents or that kind of thing, then Hibiki had quite the collection that she used for inspiration or reference for her voice acting, "

Akira counted each of the places off on his fingers as he said this, frowning intensely as he did so.

"That in itself's a lot already." Tyson remarked to nobody in particular.

"I bought a few myself, later on, so I'd have something to do on rainy nights and the like," Akira continued, still concentrating.

"And then Nee-san noticed that and decided to buy and bring me random titles. Ah, and I acquired some while I was still recovering at home, and most of those Nee-san got for me again-there wasn't much for me to do apart from reading, and therapy, and stuff, you know?"

 _Noriko practically came skidding into the room, arms flailing, clearly out of breath._

" _Guys, guys, guys!" she said._

" _Woah, what is it, Noriko-Chan?" Wakana asked. "Are you okay?"_

" _Yeah, yeah…" Noriko managed to steady herself, and the grinned. "It's Kazama-kun, he's woken up!"_

" _He has? For real?" Hokuto asked, getting up._

" _Yeah, I just went to get a nurse-but let's go get Kita-kun and de Guerre, and let's go to see him ourselves!" Noriko exclaimed._

" _Yeah, that's a good idea." Wakana got up too, but I stayed sitting. She noticed this though, for she turned to look at me._

" _Chieko-Chan?"_

" _Will…he want to see me, though?" I asked._

" _Ah…well…" Wakana floundered for a moment. "Well, let's go anyway. He's just woken up, so the more familiar faces around, the better, right?"_

 _Wakana was right. Akira needed the rest of us around, especially considering we were all that was left. I couldn't imagine that he'd want to see me-wouldn't having been unconscious for so long mean that remembering everything came back as if it had just happened-but still, we were classmates and we'd escaped together. And I had been just as worried as the others, so even if it turned out I was right and he didn't want to see me, I wanted to see him, to see for myself that he was fine. And so, because of that, I got up._

"And you know, it's kind of funny, even with that many movies at his fingertips, he's never actually become a movie buff or anything." Masashi was saying when I returned to the present.

"Well, it's not like you absorb that kind of thing just by being surrounded by it, right?" Hokuto asked.

"Perhaps, but I've been surrounded by music ever since I was a child, and look where I am now." Wakana said.

"Eh, I guess. My dad was an astronaut and my sister and I both have star-related names. So did Mum, actually." Hokuto shrugged.

"Well, yeah, but I became a geneticist and I wasn't surrounded by genes, or geneticists, was I?" Noriko pointed out.

"Technically you were, and still are." Tyson responded, earning a fairly confused stare from Noriko.

"What?"

"We all have genes, right?"

There was a beat of silence while we all processed this.

"Wait, was that your idea of a joke?" Masashi blurted out eventually.

Tyson smiled at this, clearly pleased with himself.

"Yes, it was."

"Holy fu-I mean, wow. That was _awful_ , you know that?"

"Yeah, that's why I made it." Tyson's smile became wider.

"It wasn't that bad." Akira commented.

"You're just being nice." Masashi retorted.

"But in any case, it's not like just having certain things near you influence you into becoming something just because they're near to you. It's got to be more than that, right, like how you interact with the thing, right?" Noriko asked.

"I mean, if we're using a genetics analogy-an analogy, not a bad joke-then even if you only got tall-height genes from your parents, if you don't get good nutrition, you might not grow up as tall as you'd expect from having tall parents."

"Yes, that's a good point." I agreed.

The discussion went into full-flow, and as we talked, I looked at Shizuka, eating happily and laughing along whenever someone else laughed, though no doubt she didn't understand all the jokes that were being made. And I could not help but think about what was surrounding her. Not in this precise moment, but more generally. Though we were dancing around naming it specifically, we were talking about what had influenced our former talents, more or less. But Shizuka would never become an SHSL in anything, and that was a good thing, so it was not really that I wondered about. Just who would she be, in general, when she got to sixteen years old, or even when she got to twenty two, the age I was now? Of all the things that surrounded her, what would be the one that ultimately shaped her? I really wanted to know, I wanted to see it coming, but yet…at the same time..

… _as long as she's safe and happy, it shouldn't matter, right?_

I pondered on this a little while longer, as we finished our dinner, not finding any real answer to what we were discussing-because in truth, there was no quick, easy answer, whether we were talking talents or who we were as people. _And, it shouldn't matter. As long as I can continue being okay, it doesn't matter. Though maybe I'm just saying that to make me feel better about the fact Enoshima took gardening from me…._

Akira and Wakana started to clear up the plates, and Noriko and Hokuto followed them into the kitchen to sort out the snacks, and so I put my thoughts firmly aside for the moment, and turned to Shizuka.

"Let's go brush our teeth and change then, Shizuka."

"But Mummy, we'll be eating anyway, won't we? The popcorn and the crisps and the cake?" Shizuka asked.

I blinked at her.

"So we haven't finished eating, have we?"

"She's right." Tyson remarked as he walked past us.

I just kept staring, because I really was none the wiser. Shizuka just sighed heavily.

"Mummy, you always say that you brush your teeth at night after eating, but if we're still going to eat, we're not finished, are we?"

 _Oh, yes, right._ That did make a certain amount of sense. The only thing was I wasn't sure how I would deal with her teeth if she fell asleep during movie night-as she inevitably would-but that was another thing I could concern myself with later.

"Yes, you're right about that. But, we need to change into our pyjamas, right? So we're all cosy for movie night. So let's go and do that." I decided after a moment.

"Okay!"

So we went up to change (and to get Yosa), and then came back down again just as Masashi and Tyson came out of their rooms, also pyjama-ed. Tyson had a thin dressing gown over his pyjamas, and Masashi had the fluffiest white slippers I'd ever seen.

"Since when did you have those?" I asked.

"….the entire time I've been here?" Masashi replied, clearly confused.

"Right, I never noticed them." I said, feeling about as confused as he looked.

"Ooooh, they're so fluffy." Shizuka was also clearly bowled over by the slippers.

Masashi's look of bafflement changed into an easy-going grin.

"Yeah, they are. "

"Can I touch?"

"Uh…sure?"

Shizuka hopped over, crouched, and patted the fluff. She giggled.

"They're soooo fluffy!" she said, getting up again. "Are they cosy?"

"Yeah, they are."

"Don't your feet get hot in them though?" Tyson asked. "It's summer, after all."

"Eh, I suppose so." Masashi shrugged.

We all went down the stairs, and went straight to the kitchen. Akira and Wakana had just finished the washing and were already leaving to get changed, while Hokuto and Noriko were still sorting things out.

"You guys, go and change." I told Hokuto and Noriko. "We'll take over from here."

"Okay, sure." Noriko grinned.

"Then, I'll go sort myself out too." Akira said.

They left, and I went over to the counter. Most of the stuff had been poured out into bowls-and Shizuka's cake arranged on a plate-but there was still a little left to do, and the packets to clear up as well.

"Shizuka," I called out. "Take these and put them on the coffee table. Kita-kun will help you."

I shot a look at Masashi to make sure he was fine with that, and he grinned, saluting me. Relieved, I handed two bowls to Shizuka, and Masashi took two more, and they left together. The process repeated a few times until we'd taken everything over, and then once all the packaging and mess was swept and thrown away, Tyson took the drinks and the cups, and we went to join Shizuka and Masashi in the living room. Wakana had also come down.

"Well, this is quite the spread." Wakana said.

"It almost looks like we're having a party of sorts." Tyson observed.

"I guess so, but what are we celebrating?" Masashi asked.

"…." Tyson considered this. "That's a good question."

"What's a good question?" Hokuto asked as she came in, Noriko and Akira following behind.

"This set-up looks like a party, so we're wondering what it is we're celebrating." I explained.

"Ahhh." Noriko pulled a face as she considered. "Life being awesome?"

Noriko sat on the sofa as she said this, and Hokuto flopped down on the floor next to the sofa. Wakana smiled a little as she settled down on the sofa as well, and I went to sit next to her.

"I suppose so."

"That you're all friends again?" Shizuka asked innocently, as she climbed onto my lap.

"Yeah, yeah, that's worth celebrating too." Masashi said, giving Shizuka a thumbs-up.

"That we're here."

This answer came from Akira, who was busy setting up the DVD player. We all went silent, thinking about this. _That we're here._ Here, as in gathered together for this movie night, but _here_. Alive, and whole, despite everything.

"Mummy?"

Shizuka turned to look at me, confused, and I hugged her for a moment before responding

"Yeah. That's the perfect reason to celebrate. "

"Indeed." Tyson agreed.

"Yup!" Masashi said at the same time.

"It is, isn't it?" Wakana seemed wistful, but quickly smiled again.

Akira finished with the DVD player, then got up to turn off the lights. When he had, he came back and sat down, and everyone settled down. The start screen showed up, and Akira picked up the remote. And then once we were ready, he pressed play, and the movie started.

* * *

 **Kiki's Delivery Service is the suggestion of guest reviewer Ochuu. Thank you!**

 **Most of the events of next chapter is just...the characters sitting watching movies. Which is obviously the point of movie night, but it's hard to write a chapter when not much is happening. Hopefully it'll work out though so ehh.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	55. Movie Night, part 3

**Well, this chapter ended up being particularly hard to write. In the end, it kind of ended up seeming like a bunch of interconnected drabbles which...isn't bad, per se, but it isn't great. Still, I did my very best, so I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway.**

* * *

 _Tyson_

I only vaguely remembered the plotline of _Kiki's Delivery Service,_ and I couldn't remember the last time I'd actually watched it. Or if I had actually specifically watched it-I remembered for some reason deciding Ghibli movies were the way to go in understanding the Japanese language, and watching a bunch prior to leaving the country for the first time, whenever I wasn't busy making other preparations, but I wasn't sure which ones those had been. I remembered Hibiki quizzing me about what anime series I'd heard of or watched on the second or third day of Hope's Peak, her going far too fast for me to actually be able to keep up with all of the questions, and Akira scolding her for doing that. The specific movie itself though-not even a glimmer. I had obviously heard of it and things like that, but nothing specific.

 _Perhaps it was one of the memories taken from me._

I reached over and took a piece of Shizuka's cake from one of the plates it was arranged on and bit into it absently. I watched the titular character soar across the sky on her broomstick with her cat clinging onto the end, and thought of all the plane flights I'd taken.

 _I heard the speakers crackle, and then an announcement came on, spoken in clear Japanese. I could make out some of it, mainly the basic flight announcements about landing and putting on seatbelts, but there was more after that I couldn't quite make out._ What if I miss vital information and that causes me to-

Stop it, Tyson De Guerre. _I told myself swiftly._ You know that they'll repeat the announcement in English and that you will listen closely when they do. Pull yourself together-you're approaching your destination, and you have to show these people what Britain is made of. _With those admonishments, I pulled myself together, and just at that moment, the announcements did indeed repeat themselves in English. I listened to them closely, mentally committed all the vital information to memory, and sat up straight, waiting for the plane to land._

 _Slowly, gradually, and much more smoothly than I expected, the plane came to a halt. The seatbelt light switched off, and so I pulled off my seatbelt. I got up and went to pull my bags from overhead luggage. My intention had been to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible, and then proceed to move swiftly to exit so as to not be in the way of other fliers who needed to grab luggage, but I paused to look out of the window._

 _The sky was lightening to indicate the start of a new day, the swathes of grey concrete were the same you'd presumably see in any other runway, with various markings painted and a couple of other planes sitting idle on the ground. It was nothing remarkable, not really. And yet, in so many ways, I knew that really, it was._

I shook myself out of it. _Strange, that a kids movie is having so much of an effect on me_. But at the same time, not so strange. Even after seven years, there was no way to predict what could trigger memories and feelings, let alone in what way. And this way, this particular memory, it was not so bad.

 _I wonder what memories it's bringing up for everyone else. If they're good or bad ones._ And then, more specifically, I wondered: _what memories is this bringing up for Wakana?_ I snuck a look at her. She had a glass of juice in her hands, and seemed fully absorbed in the movie. Calm, but clearly enjoying herself. Satisfied, I returned my attention to the movie. Whatever this was bringing up for anyone, I hoped that it wouldn't affect the positive experience that this night was meant to be.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

"That kind of made me want to jack everything and retrain as a witch." Noriko joked as Akira changed over the DVD to the next movie.

"Yeah, I sort of get what you mean. " Wakana agreed.

"Mhm." I said, non-commitally.

I wasn't even sure if I agreed or not. There was a certain appeal to be able to fly around like that, yet on the other hand…Kiki had managed to get her ability to fly again by the time the movie had ended, a matter of days in that timeline. Seven years later in the real world, I still could not garden. If magic was as vulnerable as Talent, then was there any point?

"I want to be a witch!" Shizuka exclaimed, distracting me. "Then I can have a cat!"

"That's the only thing you take from that?" Masashi asked her, mock-shocked. "What about getting to fly on a broomstick? And do magic spells? And help people?"

"Yeah, that too." Shizuka nodded, very serious. "But a cat is the _best_ part of being a witch."

"Well, can't argue with that." Masashi said, apparently also serious. "Cats are pretty awesome."

At that moment, he caught my eye and grinned, winking quickly. I smiled back, feeling lighter. _Yeah, focusing on cats is probably the way to go._

"On the other hand, I'm so clumsy I think I'd be falling off my broom every three seconds if I even tried, so maybe I should just stick to genetics." Noriko said, continuing her musing.

"I know, right?" Hokuto laughed.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Akira asked, holding up the remote as he came to sit back down.

"Yup!" Noriko answered for all of us.

"Good."

Akira pressed play, and the opening credits started, and I settled down to enjoy the next movie, putting all thoughts of what things I'd lost out of my mind. After all, right now, what mattered was what I still had. What mattered, was everything that I had right here.

So I would make the most of it.

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

Though I had put all of that behind me, I did find myself thinking of Rei for a moment as _Sleeping Beauty_ progressed. In my journals, there had been a mention of Disney movies, particularly the princess movies. I had been all for the magic and the songs and the happily-ever-afters, even while wishing there were fairy tales in which princesses could live happily ever after with other princesses, rather than other princes as always seemed to be the case. Rei had been more sceptical. I certainly didn't know if Rei still held those views, but I knew I was still all about the happily-ever-afters. It was kind of comforting, to know that at least one thing about me hadn't changed. Still, it didn't really matter either way, so it didn't take long for the memory to drift away and for me to just become focused on watching the plot of the movie unfold.

After some time, I realised I'd been holding the crisp bowl that I'd picked up for quite some time without really noticing, so I went to grab another crisp, only to discover that there weren't that many left. Apparently, I'd also managed to eat most of the crisps in this bowl without realising. _Oops. Oh well, too late now._ I shrugged to myself and picked up the bowl and held it out to the others.

"Hey, does anyone want the last of the crisps?" I asked. "Wakana-Chan? Chieko-Chan?"

"No, no." they both refused.

"I'll nab one, thanks." Masashi said, leaning over to do just that.

"Shizuka-Chan...oh, she's asleep." I observed. Chieko gave me a surprised look, and then looked down at Shizuka.

"Yes, so she is."

Chieko proceeded to scoop Shizuka carefully in her arms, so as to not wake her, and then get up.

"Do you want us to pause the movie?" Akira asked, pointing to where the fairies were arguing over Aurora's ball gown colour. Chieko shook her head and smiled.

"No, that's fine. I won't be long."

"Got it."

Chieko left the room with Shizuka, and I returned my attention to the movie, mindlessly eating the rest of the crisps.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

As I climbed up the stairs, I felt Shizuka stir in my arms.

"Hey," I murmured. "Do you think you're awake enough to brush your teeth by yourself?"

"Mhm." Shizuka murmured back sleepily.

"Okay then."

We went to the bathroom, and I set her down. I wet her toothbrush under the tap, and squeezed toothpaste on it before handing it to her, then did the same with my own toothbrush.

"Mummy, you're gonna sleep too?" Shizuka asked as she started brushing.

"No, but I'll brush with you anyway. I've had my fill for tonight." I told her.

"Oh. Okay."

We finished brushing in silence, and then we went back to our room. I knelt by it while she wriggled in and curled up.

"Goodnight…" Shizuka closed her eyes, and pretty much fell asleep straight away.

"Goodnight." I said back, quietly.

Softly, I patted her hair, and waited for a moment, just watching her. There was a part of me that also wanted to curl up in bed and fall asleep. But the other part wanted to go back to join my friends, and that was the side that was winning. So I got up, and left the room quietly, leaving Shizuka to the dreams that I hoped were as happy as always.

 **…**

 _Masashi_

It had never occurred to me until now, but why had the movie never shown how the princess had felt upon discovering that 100 years had passed? It was an _entire fucking century_ , so the world would have changed a lot in that time in leaps and bounds. And sure, magic meant the inhabitants of the castle were also asleep so they wouldn't have died in the meantime, but anyone else who'd been around in her lifetime would have been long gone by then, too. How would she have adjusted to the world. Okay, so I'd never been a Disney Princess person, but I knew enough about them just from being a person in the world. But perhaps if Sleeping Beauty had shown how the princess adjusted to life in a world that was a hundred years older than she'd left it, I would have been able to know how to respond to coming out to a world that was just under a year older than I'd remembered it being.

 _Or maybe I'm just overthinking this. It's frigging_ Disney _, for god's sake._

At that moment, Chieko came back down, sitting back down in between me and Wakana.

"She's asleep?" I asked.

"Yeah." Chieko nodded. "Still on the same thing?"

"Mhm."

I swallowed down my silly disappointment. _Of course she's fucking asleep, that's why she was taken upstairs in the first place. Besides, Akamine-tan came back down, so that's alright, isn't it?_ And of course that was alright, but I'd also enjoyed pretending to myself that we were a family, that we'd met up with friends and we'd be going home together at the end of all this. Sitting in front of the sofa watching something, whether a movie at night or some random box set while scoffing a ready meal-it was a very family thing to do. And damn, had I enjoyed the momentary fantasy while it'd lasted.

 _I'm really falling for her, aren't I?_ I mused, though it was a redundant musing, because I'd fallen long ago and it was fairly obvious. But spending all this time with Chieko along with Shizuka that had just somehow taken things to a different level. I would have always accepted Shizuka-how could I not accept her, knowing she and Chieko would always be a package deal?-but I hadn't expected that the whole family life thing would become a part of the feelings themselves. I sneaked a glance at Chieko, absently eating another slice of Shizuka's cake, and I looked to the table to see if there were any more. Thankfully, there were, and I quickly reached out and grabbed one. The icing made my fingers sticky, and when I bit into it, I basically had an overload of sugar. But even so, it tasted good.

 **…**

 _Akira_

When _Suspect X_ had finished, I ejected the DVD and then looked over at the others. Chieko was visibly drooping, most of the others were yawning, and Wakana had fallen asleep.

"I think this would be a good time to stop." I told them, going over to take the DVD out and put it back in its' case.

"Yeah," Noriko yawned. "I'm beat. But that was fun!"

"It sure was, but yeah, bed for me. See ya in the morning…or possibly the afternoon." Hokuto said, using that as the opportunity to leave.

"You need help, Akira-tan?" Masashi muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"No, no, you go onto bed."

Once I'd sorted out the DVDs and the television, I started to take the leftover food to the kitchen. Tyson joined me, and between us, we managed to sort out all the leftovers and wash everything up and put it away. Not that there were that many leftovers in the first place, but even so.

When we left the kitchen, Chieko was leaving the living room.

"I couldn't get Wakana-Chan to wake up-she's really fast asleep. I put some cushions behind her and stuff, but…"

"It's okay, I'll watch over her."

Tyson said this almost immediately, before I even had the time to think of an answer. I just stared at him, and Chieko seemed just as startled.

"I…I don't think that's necessarily, um, necessary. But okay." I shrugged. "That does seem better than leaving her alone anyway. Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight."

Tyson smiled and saluted us, then turned and disappeared back into the living room without a word. I exchanged a look with Chieko, then decided to not think of it too much, and climbed up the stairs. Once at the top, we exchanged our goodnights, and then went to our separate rooms.

Masashi was clearly already asleep, so I made sure to be extra quiet as I climbed into bed, and then almost as soon as my head settled against the pillow, I feel asleep, peacefully.

* * *

 **Random-ish sidenote: Disney's _Sleeping Beauty_ and Suspect X were both my selections. _Suspect X_ is an adaptation of the Keigo Higashino novel _The Devotion of Suspect X_. I was considering choosing _A Midsummer's Equation_ instead, as that's my favourite of the Higashino novels I've read, and it has a movie, but _Suspect X_ was more popular in Japan when it came out, hence why I chose that one instead. **


	56. Unreal

_Tyson_

 _I am standing in a warzone. The grass, the trees, any other signs of life, they're all gone, replaced by barbed wire and trenches. I am alone, underneath a Union Jack flag, with a Vickers water-cooled .303 machine gun. The trench on the other side is empty, but there is a flag fluttering there too-it looks like the German flag, but with the Hope's Peak insignia on it. I grip the gun tightly, feel myself start to sweat, as I wait for whatever is coming._

 _And it does come, abruptly. A sharp whistle slices the air, and hordes of Monobears come streaming out of the trench, wearing spiked helmets and wielding rifles and bayonets. I spring into action, and pull the trigger, aiming to hit as many of them as I can. But it quickly turns out to be a useless endeavour-for everyone I manage to hit, more spring up to replace it, and soon they are swarming me, and the gun is overheating._

 _Quickly, I duck out of the way before the gun explodes, and I pick up the nearest item-a shovel-and try to hit as many as I can. But they keep coming, and already I can tell it's a losing battle when I hear a loud noise above me, and look up to see a black Fokker Tri-plane, piloted by another Monobear, this one wearing a scarf, and-_

 _There is a loud BOOM, and everything turns to white._

I shot up, gasping, a scream abruptly dying as I tried to catch my breath. _Not real, not real,_ I tried to remind myself. _That scenario never came to be, or you wouldn't be here right now._

 _Not real. Not. Real._

I knew that. But even so, it was far too vivid.

"De Guerre-Chan?!"

Startled, I looked over. _Wakana? What? How?_ Then I noticed that I was in the living room, and suddenly I remembered movie night, how Wakana had fallen asleep and I'd decided to stay and keep an eye on her. _When had I fallen asleep,_ I wondered.

"I…I'm alright." I managed to rasp out.

Wakana hopped off the sofa, knocking cushions off in the process. She ignored those, and came over to kneel in front of me.

"No you're not," She disagreed calmly. "You've had a nightmare."

"Not…of anything real, though." I said, pointlessly, as if that made her assessment any less correct. "It wasn't of anything that actually happened."

Wakana frowned at this for a moment, then shook her head.

"Well, either way, you need…"

She looked over at the coffee table, which was now of course cleared up. She stared at it for a long moment, looking confused, and then she shook that confusion off, shrugging and getting up.

"We'll just have to go to the kitchen then-oh!"

Tipping her head to the side for a moment, she suddenly left the room, and I heard her go up the stairs-but only part way. Still a little disoriented, I got up, and went to follow her.

"Everything's alright down here!" she was calling up as I left the room.

"Are you sure?" Akira's voice floated back down.

"Yes, I am," Wakana replied. "You can all go back to bed, it's fine."

I quietly snuck away to the kitchen, and sat at my usual place at the table. Moments later, Wakana was there too, and she busied herself with pouring a glass of water, which she then carried over and set in front of me. I took it, more out of politeness than anything, but when I took a small sip I realised how thirsty I was, and I drained the glass steadily. Wakana waited patiently, so patiently I wondered if this was some strange extension of my dreams.

"Do you want to talk about it, or should we just sit here a while?"

"It wasn't of anything real." I said, as my way of answering.

 _But this is,_ I reminded myself. _The fact that I am sitting here, alive, and that she is there. That's real._

"You said that before. " Wakana noted. "What do you mean?"

"I wasn't dreaming of anything that actually happened while we were there." I explained. "It was more a dream of something that _could_ have happened, if I'd made different choices…"

So eager to explain myself just seconds ago, I trailed off as I felt myself waffling, dancing around the topic without actually saying it. Why did it matter if I just went out and said it: _I dreamt of what would have happened if I'd decided to kill one of you?_

"Who….who killed you?" Wakana asked.

"Huh?"

"In your nightmare. Who was it? Or did you never know…?"

"Oh. No. I wasn't killed in this dream. I was executed."

Wakana opened her mouth in surprise, and then closed it firmly again. She frowned at me.

"That's…you wouldn't have. You _wouldn't_ have. You didn't."

"I know I didn't." I said tiredly. "But I thought about it. Especially with the third motive, and the fourth. I thought about it, tried to think of ways I could reconcile it and tried to convince myself it was a necessary evil. But in the end, I couldn't. It would go against everything that I stood for, and if we survived this, if I managed to save my parents, how would I have looked anyone in the eye and told them I was honourable after that? At least, that was my thinking."

I thought about the other solution I'd considered at one point back then, one that didn't make me a murderer, but one that would have still been a necessary evil to stop those motives. I suppose that counted as thinking of killing, too. But it had little bearing on now.

"I…."

Wakana didn't come right out and disagree with me, but she was clearly having trouble wrapping her head around it. She had always been the one who fiercely refused to believe that any of us could ever resort to killing, the one who'd always found it the hardest to accuse or condemn anyone during the trials, even as she had wanted to be of help-I'd seen her reluctance to accuse waver once Daisuke had died, but I knew she'd still found it hard to cast the vote that would send Erica to her death. She had never refused to face reality when it came right down to it, but she'd always refused to stop believing. There was something admirable about that mind-set, and I wished that I had it.

"But in any case, because I had considered it, I suppose my brain just found itself making up scenarios of how it could have turned out. Imagining my own execution-I don't really know what exactly that woman would have conjured up for me, but if it was meant to be based on my talent, then it's not so hard to come up with possibilities. I won't tell you the specifics though, not if you don't want me to."

Wakana considered this.

"Do _you_ want to tell me?" she asked.

I shook my head, firmly.

"It wouldn't change anything. But….there is something else that I'd like to unburden that's sort of related."

"Okay."

 _My legs were trembling as I knelt down by the bed, slowly, carefully. I felt strange, distant, as if it wasn't really me doing this. I took a deep breath, and another, and brought to mind the scene of Yukizome's torture. To have that happen to Mother and Father…I could not let that happen. And yet, I could not murder one of my fellow classmates. This was the only way. One of us would be dead, so our loved ones would be safe. I had to do this._

 _With a new resolve, I raised my knife hand carefully, and pointed the knife at my neck, swallowing nervously. Trying to grip tighter on the handle, my hand just trembled more, getting worse the more control I tried to exert._

" _No!"_

 _The knife slipped and clattered to the floor, and I folded, muffling my screams as I curled up in a pathetic heap on the floor. I had failed._

I finished recounting the memory, and looked at Wakana. Her eyes were misty, and when she noticed me looking, she wiped them quickly, and without saying anything, got up, walked around the table to me, and hugged me fiercely. I held onto her just as tightly, and we stayed like that for a while.

 **...**

 _Wakana_

 _We need to look back on some happy memories,_ I found myself deciding when I woke up the next morning. After sitting with Tyson, waiting until he had pulled himself back together again (and until I felt able to _keep_ myself together after listening to what he'd had to say), we'd both back to bed, and I'd lain there restlessly, staring up at the ceiling, trying my hardest to think of nothing. Something that was both easier and harder than I expected. I believed what Tyson said, of course I did, because his experiences were his own experiences, only he'd know about what had been seen through his eyes. But it hit hard in the guts, for reasons I couldn't word. It was a struggle to imagine it, and not just because of the limitations of not being Tyson. So I had been restless, and hating every second of that restlessness. I must have fallen asleep at some point though, because much like how Tyson's screaming had jolted me out of sleep on the sofa, the sounds of Chieko and Shizuka getting ready for the day pulled me into the waking world.

"Good morning," I murmured sleepily, rubbing my eyes. "What time is it?"

"Oh! Morning. Uh, just gone eight thirty."

"Huh." I considered this a moment. "That's not as late as I expected. Is everyone else awake?"

"As far as I know…" Chieko thought about it. "I heard Kazama-kun pottering around, and I know Ho-Chi got up a while back, but I'm not sure about anyone else."

"Oh, okay."

 _Well, I'm not even really that tired anyway._ I got out of bed, grabbed some clothes out of the wardrobe, and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and change. I returned to the bedroom briefly to comb and tie up my hair, and then I went downstairs, heading straight for the kitchen. Akira, Tyson and Masashi were all there, busy making breakfast.

"Morning," I greeted. "Any of you need any help?"

"Nah, we're good." Masashi replied instantly. "Good sleep?"

"Masa-san, don't tease." Akira scolded good-naturedly.

"I wasn't teasing, I was genuinely asking."

I blinked at them, a little confused.

"It was fine, thanks." I said, honestly. "You guys? De Guerre-Chan?"

"Yeah, I managed to settle down." Tyson answered.

"Yes, I did. And that's good to hear, Tyson-san." Akira said. "I think yesterday went pretty well, didn't it?"

"Yeah, that was really fun." Masashi grinned.

"I had a lot of fun yesterday too. It's really nice, just being with everyone like that. What are we going to do today?" I asked.

"Well, we've got nothing planned." Akira shrugged. "But I was thinking of perhaps bringing down the photographs."

"Photographs?" I asked.

"Yeah, what photographs?" Masashi echoed.

"From Hope's Peak-I have a bunch that I think were meant to be sorted out for the yearbook. Or maybe they were in the process of being sorted out, I don't really know. But I thought it might be interesting to look at."

Akira shrugged again, and I thought of the group photograph in Ueno Hall. The version of me that I did not recognise. _We need to look back on some happy memories,_ that's what I had thought about upon waking, but if you didn't remember the circumstances around photographs, did they count as memories? I didn't want to stare at yet more versions of myself that I didn't recognise.

"Oh, that sounds like it would be interesting." Tyson said, sounding pleased. "I would definitely like to have a look at them."

"I guess I'd be up to having a flick through." Masashi agreed.

 _Interesting, huh? Well it would be that, at least._ It would be painful, seeing all the undoubtedly happy moments that had now been forgotten. On the other hand, it would be comforting to see the evidence that they'd happened. _Bittersweet,_ that's what it would be.

 _Oh,_ the idea came to me in a flash. _That would make a good working title._ I smiled a little at the thought.

"Wakana-san?"

"Huh? Oh," I looked back over at Akira. "Yeah, sounds like a good idea. See what the others think first, though."

"Akamine-tan in particular." Masashi added.

"Yes, yes, that's true." Akira frowned for a moment.

"Well", he said eventually. "Breakfast's almost ready anyway, so we can figure it out while eating."

 **…**

 _Chieko_

"Yearbook photographs?" I asked.

"I thought it would be interesting to look at them." Akira explained. "But only if everyone's okay with it."

Of course, that meant me, since everyone had seemed pretty enthusiastic about it. There'd been talk about helping Akira organise them in some way, since apparently apart from the class photographs and individual portraits for each class, they were just sort of shoved together randomly. Hokuto had even mentioned something about comparing what pictures she had in her box with whatever Akira had. And I wanted to look, I really did, but at the same time, I didn't.

"I have the ironing to do…" I offered as a weak excuse. "But…"

I put a hand on Shizuka's head, and she looked up at me, face stuffed with food and expression confused. _I'm just making excuses to avoid it, but this is a good starting point, right?_

"You'd like to look at pictures of Daddy, wouldn't you?" I asked Shizuka.

She blinked, and made to say something before remembering her food, and munching quickly.

"Pictures of Daddy?" she asked once she had, cautiously looking at both me and Akira.

"Yes, there certainly would be some, and I'd be happy to show you…"

Akira gave me a look, and I nodded. _Yes, this will be a good starting point. It's like what Ana-san said, about her being surrounded by other people who knew Koutarou too. The hard stuff, it will be up to me to explain, but….yeah. This is fine, for now._

"Yay! But, Mummy, you're not going to look?"

"The ironing really does need to be done, but…" I took a breath. "I'll come afterwards, okay?"

In a way, it would be an eye-opener for me as well as Shizuka, seeing photographs of a time where we weren't in fear of our lives, where presumably there were no complicated feelings or life-shattering revelations or complete, utter devastations. The happy times. Because thanks to Enoshima, it was as if they had never happened at all, and even if I knew I wasn't going to get the actual memories back, perhaps in this way I would be able to reclaim this one thing I'd lost. I just needed to work up to being able to do it, and the ironing, flimsy excuse that it was, would give me the space to do that.

"Yay!"

And of course, seeing how pleased Shizuka was made me even more determined to bring myself to see the photographs.

"We'll swap-I'll do my ironing once you're done." Wakana suggested.

"Yeah, that makes sense." I agreed.

The conversation subject changed, and we continued breakfast.

* * *

 **I've been waiting for the right opportunity to use that particular dream sequence of Tyson's-I didn't come up with it, dashunterman (Tyson's creator) did, so credit for the idea goes to them.**

 **Anyhow, I'm aware this chapter was kind of short, so I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Still, I hope you enjoyed this one!**

 **P.S. I had no frigging idea what to call this chapter so if I ever get a better title idea I might change the title. Maybe.**


	57. Snapshots, part 1

_Akira_

"So, where are we looking at the pics then?" Hokuto asked once we'd cleared up.

"What's wrong with the living room? We could all just sit on the floor, right?" Noriko suggested.

"Well, I was thinking the table here would be a better place…" I said, gesturing to the table. "We can spread them out more than we could on the coffee table or the carpet."

"That makes sense, actually. " Tyson agreed.

"Ehh, I suppose so," Noriko shrugged. "Doesn't matter either way."

"Well, duh." Masashi retorted.

"Well, since that's sorted out, I'll go get them. Be back in a moment."

"Ah, I'll run up and get my box too!" Hokuto exclaimed.

We left the room, Hokuto racing ahead. Chieko followed along behind me, her heavy mood apparent. I wanted to say something, but wasn't sure if I should. Even for me, the one who suggested it, the thought of going through all those photographs produced a lot of mixed feelings. And sure, this visit might have done a lot to clarify where we stood with each other, but still, I was not so sure I had a right to interfere.

 _Look what happened the last time you thought that though,_ a little voice taunted me, bringing back memories of seeing Kanekatsu in the library. _No,_ I told myself. _No, it's not like that._ I took a breath, but the memory had already decided what I would do, and so when we got to the top of the stairs, I reached out and touched Chieko's arm.

Startled, she turned to look at me.

"Akamine-san, are you alright?" I asked. "Would looking at the pictures be too much for you?"

Chieko opened her mouth to answer, then closed it again, scrutinising me closely.

"I wouldn't pressure you to look at them or anything like that." I said.

"I know." She replied. "And there's a part of me that's curious anyway. But, well, I'm not quite ready to look at them yet. So I'll come later. Besides, it'll be nice for Shizuka to see them. You guys can tell her about Koutarou and the others."

"You're alright with that."

I wasn't sure if I was asking or stating this, I was that surprised. Chieko didn't seem to notice that though, which was good. Better than her detecting the vague sense of alarm that came over me at the thought of talking about Koutarou.

"Sure. They're all from before…well, you know. So it's alright. "She shrugged sheepishly.

 _She's trusting us,_ I realised. Just like the other day, when she'd let Shizuka tag along with me to get takeaway, she was trusting me. And all of us. I would find it hard to talk about Koutarou, but I wouldn't break that trust.

"I see," I said calmly. "I'll see you down there whenever you're ready, then."

"Okay."

Chieko nodded at me, and disappeared into her room. I turned and went into my own room, and went over to my desk. Kneeling down next to the drawers, I unlocked the lockable one, and pulled it open, lifting out the white box that had the photographs in it and putting it on the desk. I locked the drawer again, then stood up, and grabbed a couple of marker pens out of my desk tidy and found some blank, empty envelopes. I was about to gather everything up, but then I paused, and opened the lid to the box, counting the five envelopes and noting the pile of unorganised photographs underneath. My hand hovered over the box as I considered pulling one out, but in the end I just popped the lid back on, put the pens and envelopes on top, and then picked it all up.

I would be looking at it all with the others, after all.

 **…**

 _Masashi_

With all of us sat around the table, Akira put the pens and empty envelopes down, and opened the box. He pulled out five envelopes, all of which seemed full of photographs, and set them down one at a time. I snagged one to look at what was written on it- _Class 76A-group and portrait._ Absently, I opened it, and pulled a couple out. Both photographs were, as the envelope caption suggested, portraits, each one of a female student in Hope's Peak uniform, staring straight at the camera. One, a green-eyed girl with curly blond hair, was smiling broadly. The other looked dark and brooding with impossibly long brown ponytails and she regarded the camera with some suspicion. I didn't recognise either of them, so I slotted them back into the envelope and abandoned it.

"This one's ours!" Noriko said, holding up another envelope.

She pulled out the stack of photographs, and started laying them out. There were three different group shots, and Wakana seemed drawn to one in particular.

"This one's up at Ueno Hall." She explained, holding it up for all of us to see.

I spotted myself immediately, in the middle row, standing between Akira and Hibiki, smiling. In fact, everyone was smiling-except for Hideki and Koutarou, and that was no surprise, particularly where the former was concerned. Koutarou at least seemed neutral about being in the photograph, but Hideki just looked downright grumpy. No doubt because the time taken to snap these photos would have interrupted his sleep. Though, now I was thinking about it, Hideki seemed marginally cleaner than I remembered him ever being. Marginally, but still. I had no idea what to make of that.

" _not to mention-"_

 _Yukizome stopped abruptly in the middle of her rant, and frowned at the grumpy dude standing in front of her._

" _Inoue-kun, when was the last time you had a bath?!" she shrieked._

" _I could've asked the same damn question." I muttered. The guy was a walking dirtbag, after all. I doubted the clothes he was wearing were clean, either._

 _The others next to me shuffled nervously, Hibiki emitting a half-laugh. I wondered what was going to happen next._

" _What's it matter to you?" The guy drawled, looking irritated._

" _It matters a great deal, Inoue-kun! Do you know how many infections you could end up getting from not washing?!"_

" _I don't fucking care, let me go back to sleep. I thought you didn't need to attend classes in this school." Inoue muttered._

 _He turned to go back to bed, but Yukizome abruptly grabbed his arm. I had no idea how she could even stand to touch him, but from the events that had unfolded so far this morning, it was clear our homeroom teacher was one tough cookie. Also, she had been SHSL Housekeeper, so perhaps that had something to do with it._ Meh, whatever, I'll certainly have something to phone home about, _I thought wryly,_ this is freaking mad.

" _That may be so, but it's not the case in my class! I'm not letting my students waste their youth and become rotten oranges! Now, you'll shove yourself into the bathroom right now and scrub yourself up, and then change into something clean. Understood?"_

 _The guy rolled his eyes, and muttered something we couldn't hear under his breath. But whatever it was, Yukizome could hear, because her expression became even more indignant._

" _That is horrible language, Inoue-kun. But in any case, if you don't clean yourself up, I'll drag you into the bathroom and scrub yourself up myself!"_

" _Yukizome-sensei, that's sexual harassment!" Akira exclaimed._

 _I stared at Akira, not understanding how he could sound so outraged and still be utterly monotone. But I shrugged it off, and just watched speechlessly as Yukizome bodily dragged a grumbling Inoue over to the bathroom._

"Whatcha giggling at?" Hokuto asked me.

I quickly told her what I had just thought of, and she cackled.

"Oh god, I remember that. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Yukizome-sensei had done something similar for the photos, like you said."

"Yeah, that does seem plausible." Akira nodded.

"Look, Shizuka-Chan, that's Mummy when she was younger." Wakana was saying, pointing to where Chieko was standing in the photograph, grinning between Wakana and Koutarou.

Still chuckling a little about the possible ways Yukizome might have persuaded Hideki to clean up a little, I watched as Shizuka frowned at the picture. She took it from Wakana and stared at it.

"Daddy's standing next to her." She stated.

"Yup, that's right."

Shizuka didn't say anything to that, just stared at the photograph a moment before settling it down, and looking at the other ones that were spread out as the others went through them. I watched her a moment longer, then turned back to the others.

"Why are there three different group photographs?" Tyson asked. "Surely the format of a year group is one in the middle, and then the individual ones around it with everyone's names underneath each one?"

"Yes, that's right," Akira explained. "My guess is that the school photographers took a few, so we could decide which one was the best one to use. The other classes have about three group photos in their packs too."

"I see." Tyson nodded, and then picked up his portrait to study it. "I looked very different back then, didn't I?"

"That's an understatement!" Noriko laughed. "Look how different I look!"

She held up her portrait next to her face, inviting the comparison. The most obvious difference was that Noriko just had one pair of glasses now, whereas back then she went around with two pairs. Then there was the hair-back then, she'd dyed it a weird purplish brown colour and kept it tied in a ponytail.

"I look pretty different myself, but that's mostly the hair." Hokuto laughed.

I grinned back, and held up my own picture.

"Yeah, pretty much the same here."

"Ehh, your hair isn't that different." Noriko disagreed.

"Psh, it's different enough." I said, sticking my tongue out.

"I don't think I look that different either, again, apart from the hair." Akira considered.

"Yeah, you're right." I said, after glancing at the portrait photo of Akira. "Yo, Abe-tan, what do you think?"

"About mine, or you guys?" She asked quietly.

"Uh…whatever, I guess?" I said, surprised.

Wakana sighed.

"I look pretty different, I think." She started, hesitantly. "And you guys have clearly changed…."

Wakana made no move to reach for her own portrait photograph, so I put mine down and picked hers up instead. She was smiling in the photo, a broad, easy grin that was a lot like the one in the group photograph, a smile I recognised from back then, before everything had happened. Her hair in the picture was in a high ponytail, neat but somehow more livelier, and it wasn't as long as her hair was now (nor was it plaited, the way she had her hair now). Her features were a bit more mature too, but that was to be expected for all of us, it had been seven years after all. Mostly though, her appearance hadn't really gone through any drastic changes, not like Tyson or Noriko. I couldn't really see what it was she thought was different.

"Ah, let's see what's in there, then." Tyson said suddenly, preventing me from saying anything.

I put the photo of Wakana down, and looked to see Shizuka leaning over the table and peering into the white box.

"Can I take one out?" she asked, looking over at Akira.

"Yes, yes." He said.

He swept our class photos into a rough pile and left it next to him, then reached for the box. Shizuka sat back down and let him take it and scoop out a selection of the photographs. We all picked one out at random.

"Why are the people in this wearing funny clothes?" Shizuka asked.

"Huh?" I looked at the photograph, and recognised Erica, Akira and Tyson in it instantly.

"Funny clothes?" Noriko asked.

Shizuka showed the others the photograph, and Tyson made an sound of recognition.

"Those are soldier's uniforms, Miss Shizuka."

"Soldiers?" Shizuka asked, puzzled.

"Yes, soldiers. Specifically soldiers who fought in World War 1."

"Oh. Why are you dressed up like soldiers?"

"At this school, I appa-I formed a World War 1 related club, this must have been an event related to that."

"Akira-tan, you were a part of his club?" I asked, surprised.

"It seems like it. Though I can't imagine how I would have had the time for it, I would have been overwhelmed with Student Council duties." Akira said, studying the photograph.

"Eh, according to my journal, in my Astronomy club, I used to do one-off stargazing nights for people who weren't part of it to attend. Maybe something similar's going on there?"

"Perhaps." Tyson shrugged. "Or perhaps visiting clubs was part of your duty?"

"It wouldn't be normally, but maybe." Akira said.

"Look, this one must be from your birthday, Kazama-kun!" Noriko exclaimed.

She held up the photograph she was referring to. This one had Akira and Hibiki as the main focus, showing them sitting at a table, each wearing silly party hats and 'Birthday Girl' badges and holding a slice of cake each. Akira had a small smile while Hibiki was grinning broadly and flashing a peace sign at the camera. Shiro was peering out of the corner of the photo, and Kimihiro was standing slightly behind them all, apparently having turned from whoever he was talking to in order to say something to whoever was taking the photo.

"That looks like Hibiki's idea of a joke." Akira chuckled wryly.

It took me a moment to realise he was referring to the badges. I shook my head in amusement, remembering how when I'd first met them, I hadn't been able to work out Akira's gender until he'd started speaking.

"Yeah, it sure seems like it."

We went through more photographs. Most of them seemed to be of the two Class 76s, which made sense considering that would have been the year they'd graduate. But there were plenty of us too, so we had a lot of fun speculating about the moment surrounding each of the ones that were of us.

"Huh, who's that sitting on the bench there?" Noriko asked about one.

"What picture are you talking about?" Wakana asked.

"Here, this one."

The photograph was of me and a senior student-I vaguely remembered their name, something Yanagi, though I could not for the life of me remember their class or their former Talent, which was pretty bad considering they were team captain-on the soccer pitch. I was in mid-kick, my leg high in the air and a shit-eating grin on my face. _I'd enjoyed soccer, back then,_ I mused, before focusing on what Noriko had pointed out. Off on the side of the photograph, fuzzy and slightly out of focus, there was someone sitting on the bench.

"You doughnut, don't you recognise the hair and ridiculous coat? That's Nobunaga-tan!" I exclaimed.

"Isn't that Nobunaga-kun?" Wakana asked at the same time.

" _Who_ is _that anyway?" One of the boys asked._

" _One of Kita's classmates, I think-right, Kita?" Yanagi said, looking over at me._

" _Yeah, that's Nobunaga-tan."_

" _Got it. Hey, Nobunaga! You alright over there?"_

 _Yanagi jogged a little closer, and after shrugging at each other, the rest of us followed. Hironori tilted his head slightly and smiled slightly, putting down the bandage roll he'd been wrapping and unwrapping around his wrist._

" _Sure," he said. "Why would I not be?"_

" _Well…" Yanagi scratched his head in puzzlement. "The past few days, you always just come and sit here and just watch us. I mean, I'm cool with people coming to watch us play and practise, but still…"_

" _You look kinda creepy just sitting there and staring, mate." I interjected._

" _Kita-kun!" one of the others protested._

" _What? It's true!" I protested right back._

" _Creepy, huh?" Hironori seemed pretty amused. "In any case, I've not been here all the time. I sometimes go to the basketball team, the tennis team, the track club…"_

" _But…why? Do you want to join us? We could arrange it." Yanagi said._

 _Hironori's smile widened._

" _Oh no, no, nothing like that." He drawled. "But, isn't it useful for you to have a first-aider around?"_

" _Uh…yeah?" Yanagi frowned for a moment, then comprehension dawned. "Oh, right. Well, thank you."_

 _Hironori nodded absently, and went back to his repetitive winding and unwinding of the bandages. It was clear he was dismissing us, so I ran back into the playing field._

"Oh, right, silly me." Noriko laughed. "Oh look, there's a picture of him bandaging up someone's ankle."

Sure enough, there was. I didn't recognise this person either, though from the kit they were wearing they were clearly members of the football team. _I'd know who they were if they'd bothered to keep in touch with me._ I was still learning everyone's names at the point my memory got wiped, and I don't think I ever had contact details for them, but there had been camaderie in the team, I'd enjoyed hanging with them, we'd all enjoyed hanging with each other. I knew I had. Yet, after release, I hadn't heard from any of them-when we were allowed visitors, none of them had come. Was it because I could no longer play soccer anymore? Did they think I wouldn't remember them anymore? Were they scared of my tragedy rubbing off on them somehow? Or maybe it was a mixture of all those things, or none of those things. I didn't know, and though there was no point in looking back at something I couldn't change, sometimes I wondered. _Would there be any point in trying to get back in contact with them?_

"Why on earth would the photographer want to take a picture of someone injured?" I asked to distract myself.

"Eh, who knows?" Hokuto shrugged. "Hey, Shizuka-Chan, what're you looking at over there?"

"Pictures of Mummy and Daddy." Came the answer.

Sure enough, Shizuka had stockpiled a small collection of pictures that either featured Chieko or Koutarou more prominently, or both of them. Most of the pictures had the two of them together, and of those that didn't, Chieko starred more often. I stared at one that showed Chieko holding some Valentine's day chocolates and laughing, handing them out to someone just out of the shot. I wondered if it was Koutarou, and was taken aback at my sudden jealousy. _You dipwit, she probably would have given chocolates to you too, even if they were just obligation chocolates…_

"Daddy didn't smile very much, did he?" Shizuka asked, picking up a photograph that showed a bunch of us sitting in the classroom eating lunch.

"Uhh…" I wasn't sure how to answer that, though she was right.

"He was kind of serious," Wakana intervened. "He was very quiet though, didn't really show his feelings very much, but he was a good person. That was always obvious."

"Really?"

"Oh yes, definitely. "

"Was he happy?"

"Uh….yeah. Yeah, he was. But like I said, he didn't show his feelings very much, so that's why he's not really smiling in those photographs. He'd smile around your Mummy, though. They were very close friends, right from when they were small."

"I know." Shizuka said unexpectedly, putting down that photograph and finding another.

"You do?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Shizuka turned to me. "Grandma Ana is Daddy's Mummy, and she lives next door to me and Mummy and Grandpa. So Daddy used to live next door to Mummy."

"Well, you can't argue with that logic." Hokuto remarked.

"Too right." Noriko agreed, laughing. "Hey, Shizuka-Chan, can I have a look at some of those pictures? I don't think I've seen all of them?"

Shizuka pouted and circled her arms around the small pile.

"I haven't finished looking at all of them!" she protested.

"Oh, uh….." Noriko blinked owlishly. "Er, are there any you have finished looking at?"

Shizuka glared at Noriko, but obligingly looked through her pile and pulled out a few, and handed them to her. Noriko beamed at her to try and soften the mood.

"Miss Shizuka, there are still more photographs to look through, why don't we all sort through them and see what other photographs of your mother and father we can find?" Tyson said quickly, gesturing to the pile of photographs we hadn't looked at, and then at himself and Wakana.

Shizuka regarded him with some suspicion, and then nodded slowly, one arm still circled protectively around the pictures she had with her. Wanting to comfort her in some way, I briefly ruffled her hair, but she barely paid attention as Wakana and Tyson began to show her other pictures, so I decided to look through some other pictures myself.

Realising I was still holding the soccer picture, I put it down quickly and turned to Akira.

"So, Akira-tan, what've you got there?"

 **…**

 _Chieko_

Folding up the last of my t-shirts, I sighed. It was good to get that out of the way. _But now, the photographs._ I'd heard the occasional burst of laughter, and dribs and drabs of the conversation too-Noriko hysterical about how different she looked, Masashi spluttering at Hideki's rare cleanliness or something like that, someone saying something about balloons-and it seemed like it was going well, that everyone was having fun. _I suppose it could be fun, in a way,_ I thought. _Like maybe the pictures of the more wacky moments._

Sighing, I unplugged the iron, but left the board as it was-whether Wakana was going to come straight up, or hang back for a little bit first, either way it was more convenient-and then took a few moments to put our clothes away before heading downstairs.

 _I wonder how Shizuka's reacting to the photographs,_ I mused as the different threads of conversation became clearer. I'd heard her giggle a few times earlier on, so hopefully everything was alright. I got to the bottom of the stairs, and poked my head around the living room door before remembering that they'd decided to stay in the dining room. _Silly me._ I continued to there, and was just about to open the door when Shizuka's voice floated to me, no louder than anyone else yet so much clearer to me.

"I've never seen Mummy look like that before."

 _Like what?_ I wanted to burst in there and look at the photograph, but for some reason, the question had me frozen, my hand hovering uselessly above the door handle. _Like what, Shizuka? What have you never seen me like before?_

"What do you mean, Shizuka-Chan?" I heard Wakana ask.

There was a pause, and though it was not silent, I could feel silence building up around me.

"I'm not really sure…" I could imagine Shizuka shrugging her tiny shoulders. Her voice sounded worried, like when she'd asked about me being sad. "I just haven't seen Mummy look like that before and it makes me feel weird."

 _Like what?_ I couldn't bear it anymore, so before I could chicken out and turn back, I pressed firmly down on the handle, and opened the door.


	58. Snapshots, part 2

_Chieko_

I expected there to be a silence when I came in. The type of dramatic one that was accompanied by silent, wide-eyed stares. And there almost was one, I could see it from the way Wakana let out a small breath, clearly realising I'd heard. But the moment I came in, Shizuka was up and bounding across to me, tugging me determinedly by the hand and leading me to the table, and so any opportunity for that to happen was instantly dispelled.

All things considered, I was glad of that.

"Mummy, come look," she said. "I found all these pictures of you and Daddy."

"Yes, I see." I replied, noticing that she had a small selection of photographs at her seat.

"Here, I'll move over here." Masashi got up from where he was sitting and moved to another chair closer to Hokuto.

"Thanks." I said gratefully, sitting down next to Shizuka. "So…which picture's your favourite?"

"All of them!" Shizuka proclaimed gleefully. "But…"

Her smile faded, and my heart sank. _Well, at least I don't have to bring it up first._ So I encouraged her:

"But…?"

"I've never seen you look like this before."

She picked up a few of the photographs, and handed them to me. I picked them up, and looked carefully. One appeared to be on Valentine's Day, where I was handing chocolates to someone who hadn't been captured in the photograph- _Was it Koutarou?_ In another, I was kneeling in some grass somewhere, pruning a bush while grinning at the camera. In the other, it looked like I had been captured in the moment of turning back towards someone, laughing, my hair flying out behind me. Koutarou was on the edge of the bush-pruning shot, but the other shots were solo ones. It took me a moment to pin down what all those pictures had in common, but then I realised.

"I know. Things were different back then."

"Because you weren't sad?"

"Well…mostly, yes." I started. "I did have some sadness in me, because my own Mummy-she would have been your Grandma Hana-she'd died about two years before. But I had my friends and your Daddy and…."

 _And my gardening and memories, my youthful dreams and a bright future. And innocence._

"And then Daddy died and you became even sadder?" Shizuka asked.

"Yes."

"But you can still be happy sometimes, right? Like you told me?"

"Yes."

"But then why don't I see you look like that?"

"Erm…"

 _Now_ there was a dramatic silence, of the type composed of sucked in breaths and wide-eyed stares. Not to mention the deep, deep aching in my heart.

"Sometimes things change you." I managed eventually. "They change you, and then you can't be the way you were before. You can't feel things the way you felt them before, and you can't show those feelings in the same way."

Shizuka thought about this, and I wondered if she had really understood what I'd said. In truth, I wasn't sure if _I_ understood what I had said. _I need to find a better way to explain this._

"Oh." She responded eventually, not particularly clarifying the issue for me.

"Uh…."

As I scrambled for a new way to explain things, Wakana got up and walked over to me.

"It's fine," she murmured to me, before looking at the others. "Well, I'm going to go do my ironing. Have fun."

"Sure." I said.

Wakana left, and I turned to Shizuka.

"So show me what other pictures you've found then." I asked Shizuka.

"All of these!" she declared, picking up new ones to show me.

We spent a little while going through the photos, gradually passing them on to the others to look at. Many of the ones Shizuka had stockpiled showed me doing some sort of gardening, and I was surprised that Shizuka hadn't picked up on this, but it was a relief at the same time. _Then again, perhaps the answer to that would be the same clumsy answer I just gave…_

"So…" I said, letting out a breath as I accepted a bunch of photographs Masashi had passed over to me. "I thought you guys were organising the photos?"

I gestured over at the empty envelopes and marker pens lying abandoned on the table. Akira looked at them, and shrugged.

"Well, we did have that idea, but we've not got around to it yet. "

"Then I suppose I can help while I'm here." I replied.

"Sounds like a plan," Masashi grinned. "Only thing is, how?"

"Maybe by who's in them?" Hokuto suggested. "Like, the main person?"

"Apart from the ones where there's just one of us, wouldn't that be very much up to debate?" I pointed out.

"Ah. Oh yeah!" Hokuto laughed sheepishly.

"What about months?" Tyson suggested. "April to May, June to July, and so on, something like that? From the looks of it I think I could at least make an educated guess as to what goes where."

"And there are some birthdays and stuff in there too, so those'd be easy." Masashi said. "Yeah, let's do that. Akira-tan?"

"Sounds logical to me."

He picked up one envelope and uncapped a marker pen, and after some thought, wrote 'April-June' on one of them, which he kept for himself. The next one, he marked 'July-September', and handed that to Masashi . 'October to December' went to Tyson, and as I passed it on to him it occurred to me that there were no photographs piled up at the part of the table Wakana had sat at, though I wasn't sure if that meant anything. Akira then handed over 'January-February' to me, and wrote 'Unknown' on a final envelope, and placed that down next to him.

"Just in case." Was his explanation for that envelope.

We got started straight away. Almost instantly, I scooped up the Valentine's day photograph of myself I had spotted and slipped it into the envelope.

"Can you find any more pictures with Valentine's day things-you know, chocolates in heart shaped boxes? Or maybe something related to New Year-you know, like what we wore when we went to the shrine this year, or someone eating mochi, or something?" I asked Shizuka.

"Yeah!" she said determinedly. "Of you and Daddy, or anyone?"

"Anyone." I said.

"Okay!"

We got on with it, chatting as we went about it, sorting through the photographs and passing them to each other.

"Here, this one's May." I said, handing over a photograph of Akira walking with a group of students across the Hope's Peak grounds, all with folders of some sorts in their hands-presumably because they were all Student Council members.

Akira took it uncertainly.

"How can you be sure it's definitely May?" he asked.

I pointed to the tree in the background.

"Dogwood trees mainly bloom in May." I said. Akira squinted at it.

"Fair enough, I suppose." He said after a moment of baffled silence, taking the photograph from me and putting it in the envelope.

"You using plants to figure it all out?" Masashi asked me curiously.

"Erm…to an extent, I guess." I said. "I wasn't thinking too much about it. It just kinda jumped out at me."

"Ehh, that makes sense, I suppose." Masashi reflected before turning to Akira with a pile of photographs of his own. "Oi, Akira-tan, these ones are from your birthday."

 _Of course it makes sense, it's because of who I used to be. But yet at the same time, isn't it more damning than complimentary, that this is all I'm able to do with my so called 'Talent'?_

I stared down at the next three photographs I had picked up. Kimihiro standing at a turntable, presumably at some sort of performance judging by the colourful lighting and the flashes of neon on his clothing; Kanekatsu in lab coat and goggles, studying something in a test tube; Hironori bandaging up a football player-not Masashi's-leg. That last one earned a raised eyebrow, but all of them reminded me that I wasn't the only one whose talent had been stolen from them. All of those who had died had had theirs taken from them, too. And for those who'd found happiness and meaning in their talents, as I had-they'd had that taken from them too. It wasn't fair.

 _Breathe, Chieko. Breathe._

I did just that, and scrutinised the photographs for any cues about when they might have been taken, but found nothing.

"Anyone got any idea when these might have been taken?" I asked, fanning the photographs out and holding them out so the others could see.

"Nope, not got a clue." Hokuto pronounced.

"Yes, put them in the 'Unknown' envelope." Akira decided, handing it over to me to do that.

"You know, while you were upstairs we were talking about how weird it was that the photographer had chosen to take photographs like the one with Nobunaga-kun in." Noriko remarked as I put the photographs in and resumed sorting.

"Yeah?" I asked absently, spotting some snowdrops blooming in a photograph of Shiro, Hibiki, Erica, a couple of people who appeared to be Shiro's siblings and a couple others I didn't recognise engaged in a snowball fight. I put that snowball fight photograph and a couple of others that had apparently been taken on the same day (including one of Koutarou making a snow bunny while I looked on) in the 'January-February' envelope, then turned to check the photographs Shizuka had found.

"Did you find any others like that?" I asked absently.

"Uhh, a few, I think. I don't think I've sorted them anywhere…Ho-Chi, you found any? Weird ones?"

"What? Oh yeah, gimme a sec."

Hokuto took a few moments to quickly pick out a few photographs out of the spread, and handed them to me. I took them, and noticed quite a few were of Hironori on various sports courts treating injuries, though one was of him wiping up blood from Shiro's knee in the school corridor. There was another injury-related photograph of Shin'ya Takeuchi bandaging a young child's leg at the announcements tent of what looked like the school festival. There were snaps of various people asleep in places that weren't their bed, including one of Hideki in class, and as if continuing the theme, a photograph of students turning up to class in pyjamas. One photograph showed an upper-class female drenched in what looked like orange juice, though the context for that wasn't clear.

"They are…very weird choices for a photographer." I concluded in the end, deciding to put the orange-juice one in the 'Unknown' folder and giving the school festival one to Tyson before passing them back to Noriko. "But maybe there's some sort of rationale. Who _was_ the school photographer that year?"

"I haven't the slightest id-" Noriko absently looked at the photographs I'd handed back to her, and then suddenly went pale. Rapidly, she turned them all face down back on the table, and we all stared at her.

"Noriko-Chan?" I asked.

She stared at the turned-down photographs for a moment, then shook her head and smiled at us.

"Sorry, I didn't like that Usami-Chan one, it seemed too eerily similar to real life." She said.

"But…it is real life?" Masashi asked. "We just don't have any memory of it…"

"No, that's not what I meant." Noriko said, frustrated. "I…oh, you look at it. What does it remind you of?"

I obliged, and picked up the pile again. Fanning them out, I picked out the one of Hironori helping Shiro, and studied it for a moment. At first, I didn't get it, then I focused on the fact that Hironori was bandaging her _knee_ , specifically.

"Ah, I get it."

Noriko averted her eyes as I showed it to everyone else. It took a few moments, but then I could see the lightbulb moment in their eyes, one by one.

"Well," Akira said once the shock of realisation had faded. "I don't think it's possible to date that one, so we'll just put it here."

"Yeah, most of these are unknown, actually." I said. "Except for…."

I pulled out a couple I'd been able to make a guess on based on the plants, and then handed them over to Hokuto and Noriko, before putting the remaining ones-including the offending Shiro photograph-into the 'Unknown' envelope.

"Anyway, what were we saying?" Noriko asked, clearly eager to just forget that.

"Who the school photographer was that year." Tyson answered. "Kazama, sir, do you have any idea?"

"I was wondering, but I can't quite remember. I think it was someone on the Student Council, but that's all I can say confidently."

"Whoever it was they sure seem to have weird ideas of what moments of school life are worth snapping. I mean, who's gonna put photographs of girls soaked in juice in a yearbook?" Masashi wondered.

"That's true," Tyson agreed. "It always seemed to me that such things were supposed to highlight the better parts of school life."

"Exactly!" Noriko agreed.

We debated this for a little while as we busily sorted out the pictures, and gradually the pile started to shrink, and the subject change.

"Mummy?"

"Did you find another one for this envelope?" I asked Shizuka.

"I don't think so, but look, it's another one of you and Daddy!"

"Oh?"

I took it from her, and stared at it in silence. There had been a few other photographs that had featured both me and Koutarou-though they didn't all specifically seem to be _of_ us-but this one I hadn't seen before, and apparently neither had Shizuka.

The picture seemed to be focused on myself and Wakana. I was holding my phone up to the very vivid sunset, clearly taking a photograph of it, and Wakana was looking at the screen, pointing something out to me. Koutarou was somewhat on the edge of the picture, standing slightly off on the side but still very clearly watching Wakana and me as we enthused over the sunset. Though, following his gaze, it seemed more like he was watching me, specifically. And there was something, _something_ about his facial expression, that was both intensely familiar and incredibly surprising to me. Because the closest I'd seen to it had been _that_ night.

" _Stay alive with me?"_

I was jerked out of my reverie by Shizuka suddenly launching herself at me and hugging me. She was squeezing too tight, but I didn't mind.

"Are you okay, Chieko-Chan?" Noriko asked.

"Y-yeah." I managed, absently patting Shizuka's head.

"Do you want to keep the picture?"

I stared in surprise at Akira.

"Keep the picture?" I echoed. "Are you sure?"

"It seems like it's particularly meaningful to you, so yes. And actually," he said. "If any of the rest of you want to keep a couple of pictures, then feel free."

"Nah, I'm alright, I think any of the ones I'd really want I've got copies of in here." Hokuto said, patting her purple box.

"Yeah, I'm alright too-no, actually." Masashi seemed to abruptly change his mind. "Can I have that envelope, please, Akira-tan? I think there're a couple in there I'd like to hold onto."

"Sure."

Akira handed the 'April-June' envelope to Masashi, and watched as Noriko and Tyson also looked through their envelopes. Shizuka let go of me and sat up again.

"Do you want to keep a photograph?" I asked her. "Just one, mind you."

Shizuka's eyes widened, and she thought for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, which one? Do you remember what envelope it went in?"

Shizuka frowned, before pointing to the July-September envelope. Hokuto, having noticed, took it from Noriko and gave it to us.

"Hey!" Noriko protested.

"Sorry!" I apologised. "Just give us a moment."

"Sure, sure." She sighed, resignedly.

"Are you sure you're alright with us taking a couple of photographs?" Tyson asked Akira.

"Yes I am." Akira nodded, then paused for a moment, before picking up the leftover unmarked envelope.

"Though, if you don't mind, I would like to take copies first before properly giving them to you. Perhaps when you've decided, if you write your name on the back of them and then put it in this envelope?"

"Yes, that works for me."

Akira handed out the markers, and when I got mine I flipped the photograph over and carefully wrote my name on it, then turned to Shizuka.

"Did you find yours yet?" I asked.

"Yeah."

Shizuka held it up to me-it was fairly mundane, just showing me, Koutarou, Wakana and Daisuke posed outside our classroom, Koutarou and I in the middle of the picture, Wakana next to me and Daisuke next to Koutarou. But we all looked happy in it, and clearly it had struck a chord in Shizuka somehow, for her to have decided that this was the one she wanted.

"Okay, can you write your name for me on the back of it, and then pass it to Kazama-kun?" I asked, pointing to Akira and then giving her the marker.

"Okay!"

Shizuka did just that, and then we handed our photographs over, and waited for the others to do the same. Once that was done, we sorted out the final few photos, and then Akira put the marked envelopes back in the box and picked up that and the unmarked envelope.

"Wait, what about Wakana-Chan?!" Noriko realised. "She didn't get a chance to select a photograph."

"Ah. Yes." Akira blinked, looking unsure.

"I can go and ask her." I suggested.

"I don't think she'd want to." Tyson said at the same time.

Everybody stared at us, and I looked at Tyson. I thought of how Wakana's space had been empty when she'd left, how she'd apparently not looked at any photographs at all, and I suspected Tyson would be right.

"I can go and ask." I said again, despite my suspicions.

Tyson nodded slowly.

"Yes, indeed."

"Oh, that's fine then, isn't it?" Noriko exclaimed.

"Yes, indeed. Hey, Shizuka-tan," Masashi said suddenly. "Wanna go out in the garden to play?"

"Oooh! Can I?" Shizuka turned to ask me. I laughed.

"Of course you can, go on!"

Shizuka giggled and got up to go with Masashi. Hokuto and Noriko decided to go out and join them too, and Tyson decided to tag along as well, and so that left Akira and me to go upstairs.


	59. Scraps of the Past 12

_Right, do I have everything?_ Daisuke Ueno thought for a moment, then spotted the small pile of sheet music on the desk, and with a wry smile he picked it up. He'd spent a good couple of hours before lights-out going through the sheet music for Wakana's newest as-yet-untitled piece, picking out the things he thought needed changing or correcting, and suggesting improvements in careful handwriting. They could look through it later on in the day, or even as soon as they reached the classroom, since they'd probably get there early.

 _Looks like Wakana's not ready yet_. Daisuke mused, not hearing the usual knocks on the door. It was not a big deal. He'd just go to knock for her, instead. It was just as likely that they'd bump into each other halfway between his dorm room and hers, while she knocked for one of their other classmates. _Maybe I'll wait a few minutes though, it's barely even half seven._

As he waited and looked through Wakana's sheet music once more, just in case something else jumped out at him, he thought he could hear something in the corridor. Something like a drunken brawl, except that couldn't be quite right, since of course all the students were underage, and Hope's Peak were quite careful with such things despite the apparent freedoms they had. It certainly did seem quite loud out there, though. Daisuke shook his head in bafflement. He really should be used to this-it was not the first time he'd heard strange noises, and no doubt he'd emerge from the room to see an argument or a dance-off in progress, or something even weirder. But that was the key. _Weirder_. Every time he thought he'd seen the weirdest thing this school had to offer, it threw up something even more so.

But it was not like he disliked the place. Having a friend around made all the difference, of course, but generally speaking, he felt like he had slotted right into his Hope's Peak life, and he was happy. The year so far had been good, the experience of the Wishing Tree bombing notwithstanding. Though the injury to his arm had left only the faintest scar, sometimes just thinking of what had happened and what could have been made it twinge. Indeed, it was doing so again.

Just then, he heard a knocking on the door, and just like that, his thoughts were interrupted and the twinge disappeared. Smiling to himself, he gathered the sheet music and was almost at the door when he realised the knocking had been harder and harsher than Wakana's usual merry taps. Then again, if she'd gone to get Chieko and Koutarou first, and Koutarou had done the knocking, that would explain it. _Don't overthink things when there's no need for it._ So, without any hesitation, he opened the door.

"Good morning, Songbi-"

The nickname died on his lips as he realised that it was not Wakana, or even Koutarou or Chieko, at his door. Instead, it was a stranger, clad all in black, asides from the parts of the bear mask that were white and red. _That's the one that's been on the news, hasn't it? That terrorist group that took credit for the Wishing Tree bombing._ His arm started to twinge again, but it was nothing compared to the fear when the figure held a gun up to his face.

"Assembly hall. Now." The voice of the person was distorted. Daisuke stared at them, then stepped forward to look past them, and realised that there were other black-clad, bear-masked, gun-toting people around, knocking on all the dorm doors and forcing people to move. _Was this what I was hearing?_ Not the usual morning antics of the student body, but something much, much worse.

"Daisuke-Chan!"

 _Wakana!_ The person who'd come to his door rammed the gun in his back, making him stumble forward just as he tried to turn around to look for Wakana. The moment he met her eyes, he stumbled away from his capturer and went to her, trying his best to ignore the fact that there was another masked person right behind her.

"Wakana, do you know what's happened?"

"I have no idea!" her voice was wavering and increasing in pitch, but her expression was still strong. "They just appeared and started knocking and ordering us to the assembly hall. I think they're getting everyone in the school too. Daisuke-Chan, what could this be?"

"I don't know. It's probably not good. " _That's probably an understatement._

"Don't dawdle! Assembly hall, all of you, NOW!"

The masked person who had come for Wakana was so close that their shout near deafened them, and they then shoved the gun in their backs, leaving them no choice but to stumble on forward.

And the sheet music in Daisuke's hand slipped away and fell to the ground, unnoticed.


	60. Killer Moments: Nobuyuki Oshiro

Oshiro had his plan ready. Now, all he had to do was wait, lurking in the dark corners of the library-which was conveniently near a shelf full of classic children's' books, should he need an excuse as to his presence-until she came and he could strike. _God, I sound so savage._ He shuddered, but what could be done? What if somebody exposed his secret? What if someone killed him instead to protect their own? He couldn't just sit around. This was a matter of life or death, and not just for him either. If it was found out that he was the wrong Oshiro, what would that do to Haruto, already so fragile? There was too much at risk.

And, of course, it had to be her that he killed. Kanekatsu. He didn't hate her or anything like that. Hell no, if anything, he respected her cool yet compassionate manner in the way she had dealt with the situation thus far. But she was a _forensic scientist_. And good at it, too, even without all those contraptions and machines that forensic scientists on the television apparently used. The fact of poor Shiro's murder had proved that much. If anybody could eventually work out that he was not who he claimed to be, it was Kanekatsu. And so if he was to win this game and escape with his life and his secret, she would have to go.

 _I don't want to do this,_ he thought for the billionth time. _I'm not like Nobunaga, nothing like him. Ah, pull yourself together, Nobuyuki, just breathe._ He had to wait-it was almost a certainty that Kanekatsu would visit the library. She often did, sometimes with Yashiro, and sometimes alone. Not that they were the only ones to do so, but she was definitely the most frequent. It was a given that she would come. And so, he would wait. Pretending to look at the books for inspiration for a future work, he waited, and waited, the knife he'd taken as a precaution tucked away safely in his blazer pocket, almost burning a hole there yet feeling oddly reassuring. And sure enough, after a few moments, he heard the door open, and a slim female figure slip through the doors and make a beeline for shelves across the room from him, without switching on the lights for that side of the room.

 _Now._

Oh-so-quietly, he moved away, and carefully wove through the shelves, keeping an eye on where he went, but taking advantage of the darkness to keep hidden. He was sure his heart was rattling so loud in his chest, but somehow, she didn't seem to hear it, and eventually, when she stopped at a particular set of shelves, he was able to sneak up behind her, but once he had, he hesitated as he watched her reach up and trail her fingers along the book spines in a delicate gesture.

 _Am I going to do this? Really._

 _Yes, you have to._

He reached out in the direction of her neck, then curved his hands and encountered hair. _Wait, what?_ Long, long hair, which could not possibly be right, but he ignored it and parted it quickly, and wrapped his fingers tightly around her neck and squeezed.

A strangled gasp came from her, and one hand came up to try and pry his fingers away as she writhed and gasped and wriggled. Her motion sent long hair flying up all around her in a halo, and he struggled to hold on to her, but somehow he did. After a moment, the small hands stopped trying to unclasp his own, and instead moved upwards, fingers tugging on his hair and scrabbling against his skin, trying to claw his face. _Those aren't….but then again, what do I know? I don't have some freaky hand fetish to know these things!_ The movements themselves weren't very powerful, and he was sure that he'd be able to restrain her with a bit of time. But she was so frantic, it was exhausting. _I need this to be over with._

"Stop, for god's sake, please!" he asked her uselessly. She grunted, an oddly weak sound, and muttered something that he couldn't catch, but that he was convinced was a foreign language, but before he could make any sense of that she somehow managed to head-butt his chin and he stumbled backwards, releasing his grip on her neck. _Argh, wait, no._

She jerked away from him, and though he just wanted to rub his chin and retreat, he ignored the pain and grabbed her arm roughly, causing her legs to buckle. He almost toppled over as she fell to her knees, but managed to keep upright.

 _Goddammit, I need to get this over with._

But then she looked directly at him and he felt his blood go cold. _How the hell did I not notice?_ The long loose hair, the fact that she'd been short enough to _head-butt his chin_ , the foreign language she had muttered in, her small and delicate hands. It was not Kanekatsu who had come into the library tonight, but Yashiro instead. And now she looked up at him, her normally blank face slightly tinted with bafflement and fear. Pure, pure fear. _It wasn't meant to be like this. What went wrong?_

"Ah, um…." Yashiro gulped visibly. "Are you going to kill me?"

 _If this had been a scene from a video game or something, this would be funny._

"I…I kind of have to now, don't I?" Oshiro said, as he realised this for himself. _Well, what the bloody hell am I meant to do? It's not like she'll keep quiet if I just let her go. Oh god, oh god, I'm going to be sick._

He tamped the waves of nausea down, right down deep inside him until he could put a lid on them and pretend they were not there, and kept his face still. He tightened the hand that was on her arm so that she could not move away if she tried, and with the other, he reached in his pocket and pulled his knife out. He hadn't wanted to use it, but he was left with no choice. This would be much more effective than relying upon his own brute strength. Or just strength.

 _I'm not a brute, to so easily kill a tiny thing like Tsukishima…._ but again, what could he do? It was a new threat, one of his own making, but no matter how tiny she was, the girl quaking in his grip still presented that threat. So he forcibly restrained his own trembling, and held the knife out, moving it towards her. Seeing it, she squeezed her eyes shut, and he wanted to apologise, but he gritted his teeth and remained calm.

 _I need to get this over with._

And when he made the knife arc across her throat, sending gushes of deep red everywhere, when he let go of her arm and she simply dropped, face down, in the pools that her own blood was making, he knew that finally, it was over.


	61. Friendship

**I was aiming for a somewhat longer chapter, but figured this scene would work best if it was in its own chapter. So, here we have it. Enjoy!**

 _Wakana_

When I reached our room and closed the door behind me, I let out a huge sigh of relief. Eye-opening as the photos were, and as glad I was that the others were getting something positive out of it, I couldn't. I just couldn't. But I hadn't wanted to spoil their fun, so I was eternally grateful that housework had gotten me out of it.

 _Well, should get on with it, I suppose._

Chieko had left the ironing board up for me, though she'd turned the iron off-a sensible thing to do, but then again, it was not as I was expecting anything different. She'd left my clothes in the basket too, having put hers and Shizuka's away. I went over and picked up a pair of jeans, and then paused for a moment. _It's too quiet._ I didn't really want to dwell on the feelings that the photographs had brought up to the surface now, not when I would doubtless be doing so later anyway.

I went to get my phone, turned it on, and looked for a playlist. Adjusting the volume so that it wouldn't disturb the others downstairs, I started the playlist and set the phone down on the bedside table, and let the sounds of a piano softly fill the room as I put the pair of jeans on the ironing board, turned the iron back on, and got started.

I worked steadily for a while, and before I knew it, I was completely finished. I put my clothes away, then hovered by the ironing board for a moment, unsure whether to fold it up or not. _Folding will make it more convenient to give back to Kazama-Chan though,_ I thought. So I did just that. And then I was stuck.

 _So, what now?_

Stopping the playlist on my phone first, I went over to the door and opened it a crack, listening out. There was nothing to indicate what they were doing, so I assumed that they were still looking through photographs, and I closed the door. I decided I'd wait a little more, then go to join them again in the hopes they would be doing something else by then.

 _Maybe some more composing…._ absently humming, I considered the idea. It was as good an idea as any, not to mention, tonight I wouldn't be spending at the kitchen table. Smiling to myself at the thought, I went and sat down on the bed, then found my notebook and pen in the bedside table, and once I got comfortable, opened the book out, propped it against my knees, and started writing.

 **…**

"Wakana-Chan?"

"Hmm?" I looked up from where I had crossed out and started to rewrite an entire line to see Chieko had come up. "Oh, you're all finished."

"Yeah. You're completely done too?" she asked, pointing at the ironing board and iron.

"Yes. I wasn't sure what we're meant to do with it afterwards so I left it."

"I'll take them back to his room."

Chieko went over and picked up the ironing board.

"Need help?" I asked.

"No," Chieko shook her head. "It's fine. I'll be back in a moment."

With that, she left, came back for the iron, left again, and just as she'd promised, she was back in a moment. Coming into the room, she suddenly seemed to be unsure of herself, hovering slightly as if trying to work out where to go. Eventually, she leaned against the wall near to her suitcase, and shoved her hands in her jeans pocket, and regarded me.

"So, did you guys enjoy yourself?" I asked.

"Yeah." Chieko considered it for a moment, then nodded firmly. "Yes, we did. We managed to sort out the unorganised photographs for Kazama-kun, too."

I frowned at her, then remembered.

"Oh, yeah. Ah, I should've helped."

"No, it was fine." Chieko said. "Also, did you want to keep a particular photograph?"

"I…what do you mean?"

"Most of us selected a couple of favourite photographs to keep-Kazama-kun's making copies and then he'll give them to us. But of course you were ironing so you didn't get to select any when we all did…"

"Thank you, but no."

The answer came easily, I didn't need to think about it. It was hard enough, looking at the ones I still had. And there was no need for me to get photographs of Daisuke's face, or any of their faces. They were engraved into my memory anyway. Everything was engraved in my memory anyway.

 _Suddenly, a spotlight shone in the darkness, almost blindingly bright. I reared back and blinked, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the light, and then though I really didn't want to, I looked to see that Hironori was suspended in the air by various strings. Strings moved at random, and then his limbs and head and neck moved in sync with the strings, almost as if he was…_

" _A puppet?" Oshiro stuttered out behind me._

" _What the fuck?!" Masashi shouted._

" _What….what is this?" I heard Chieko half-whisper next to me._

 _Hironori didn't even seem particularly fazed at being strung up. He didn't struggle against the strings, or anything like that. In fact, he still had that sneer on his face from when he had so happily gloated about Shiro's death. And yet, even with that, I couldn't just stand and watch._

" _Can't we do something?" I turned to Daisuke pleadingly._

" _I don't think we can…" he said grimly, still staring ahead._

 _I turned back fearfully, and at that moment the floor beneath Hironori opened up suddenly, revealing nothing but a dark void underneath. Then, a pair of scissors appeared out of nowhere, held by an invisible hand above Hironori's head. They opened, and-_

 _SNIP!_

 _The strings were cut, and that was it._

Yes, I remembered everything that had happened there. That was enough of a price to pay to make sure I remembered all their faces. Forcing myself to look at things that I didn't remember….that was worse, in some way.

"You're….sure?" Chieko asked me, clearly sceptical.

"Yes."

I nodded and smiled as reassuringly as I could, but it didn't look like Chieko was buying it. She sighed, pushed her hands deeper into her jeans pockets.

"Are you okay, Wakana-Chan?"

I blinked at her.

"I don't really ask you that often enough." She said when I didn't answer.

"Yes you do."

 _As the lift doors opened, I felt Chieko's hand squeeze mine briefly. I looked at her._

" _You'll be okay." She said simply._

 _I just looked back. Alright?_ How could I be, after, after _…..I tried to not remember Daisuke's body, all that blood, but even now, such a short time after I had seen it, I knew that even years later, I wouldn't forget it. So how could I be alright?_

 _I didn't vocalise the question, but Chieko seemed to get it, because she squeezed my hand again._

" _You'll be okay." She repeated. "We'll make it through this."_

" _Yes."_

 _It wasn't agreement, exactly, but I didn't need to explain myself. After all, Chieko knew exactly what I meant._

Chieko shook her head, and instead of explaining straight away, she pushed herself away from the wall and came down to sit at the foot of the bed.

"I don't think I do." She disagreed. "You ask me, all the time. And everyone else, too. I mean, you've always been like that and that makes you wonderful. But….we're friends, right? Close friends. So…"

Chieko paused for a moment, and I waited for her to find the words for what it was she was trying to say.

"Friends are supposed to support each other, not just have one support the other." She said eventually. "But our friendship's always been more you supporting me than the other way around, and it doesn't seem fair."

"I don't think friends are supposed to keep score of these things either." I said hesitantly, slightly confused.

I suspected that she was thinking of how she'd been after Koutarou-completely, and utterly undone. And what that had meant for the rest of us. Sure, it had been difficult to deal with that worry and be sure that we were doing the right thing. But in those moments, her needs had been the most prominent, and so those were the ones that had been taken care of. When someone else's had become more so, then the focus had switched to them, and Chieko had definitely been amongst those helping. The way she'd looked after me after I'd found Daisuke, and how she'd managed to steer the way things turned out after that trial, that was enough evidence of that.

"Well, sure, it's no competition, is it?" Chieko pulled a face. "It just feels kind of unfair. And don't you resent it?"

"What? _No_."

I was horrified that she'd ever think that.

"Chieko-Chan, no. I don't resent you-there's nothing _to_ resent. And trust me, I know you care. And you've definitely asked me if I was alright plenty of times. But what's brought this on? Was it the photographs? Did they bring up something for you?"

"Well sure. A lot of somethings, actually." Chieko pulled another face. "But they did for you too, didn't they? You looked like you couldn't wait to get out of there, when you left to do the ironing. Also, it looked as if you'd not looked at any of the photographs."

"Oh."

 _Well, so much for others not really noticing so much._ I'd expected Tyson to pick up on things, considering. But I'd been actively trying to not worry the others.

"So….are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am. Mostly." I said. "Photos are always hard for me, especially ones that have me in it, and when it comes to the memories I don't remember it's even worse. It's not interesting to speculate about them for me, it's just painful, almost like I'm being taunted for my failure to recognise it all. But what about you? I know you were fine with us letting Shizuka-Chan look at them, but you were struggling too."

" _Wakana-Chan_." Chieko sighed, and shook her head.

"What is it?"

"You always do that. Deflect the caring back onto others, whenever they ask about you."

"I….." I blinked. "I just don't want to you know, be too much of a worry."

… _.though that's what Chieko's worrying about right now, isn't it? Great._

"I know. But you aren't. And you know," Chieko added. "I don't want to be a worry to everyone else, either. And, I've been getting better over the years, you know. I'm coping, more or less."

"I know."

"I know you know. But let me be the one to help, from time to time, instead of the one helped. It helps me, to know that I can be a friend to you and help you."

 _The one to help, instead of the one who is helped. I've been trying to do the inverse of that, haven't I? Be the one who is helped instead of the one who helps, when I'm with De Guerre-Chan._

"Then, I'll let you. But…" I sighed. "Really, that's one of my difficulties. And really, in this case, with the photographs, there isn't anything that can be said or done to make it any different."

"Ah, I see."

Chieko leaned back, using her arms to prop herself up, and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. I looked down at my notebook, absently made a couple more modifications, and then put my pen down again. _I'll leave this for now._

"So, the summer festival. I think it's been a while since I've been to one. It's the same for you, right?" I asked.

"Yeah." Chieko nodded. "I don't think I've been to one since high school. My old one, as far as memory goes."

"I'm guessing by that you mean there were summer festival pictures in Kazama-Chan's collection?"

"A few, yeah."

"Ah. I can't remember the last time I ever went to one, but I've been fairly busy over the past few years so not very recently, in any case. So tomorrow will be nice. Are you wearing a yukata?"

"Nope," Chieko shook her head. "But I've got one for Shizuka-here, I'll show you."

She sat up again, and got up, going over to her suitcase and looking through it, occasionally looking over at the door.

"She doesn't know that I even bought this in the first place, it's a surprise." She explained. "It's her first new one."

"Oh. Is this Shizuka-Chan's first time at a festival?"

"No, no." Chieko shook her head. "Dad's taken her to a summer festival, and for the last New Year. And she's been to a couple summer ones with my sister. But she's only worn my old ones before. They're in good condition but they're still…well, old, you know. So I wanted to buy one new for her. Ah, here it is. I hid it right at the bottom."

With a small laugh, Chieko got back up and came over again, holding something. When she got to me, she shook it out to show me a pretty pink and purple yukata which came with a matching light purple sash.

"Aww, that's cute. She's going to love it."

"You think?"

"Oh, definitely."

Chieko smiled unexpectedly, a brighter smile than I usually saw, and she looked back at the little outfit with pride. _Now, if that's evidence to show that you're not selfish, then what is?_

"So, what about you?" she asked as she went to put it back.

"What about me?" I asked.

"Yukata?"

"Oh. Yeah. Do you want to see?" I asked, though I was already getting up to show it to her.

"Yeah, sure. "

I found mine, and held it up to show her. It was blue, with white patterns somewhat like ocean waves printed along the sleeves and the hem and silvery splodges that were either meant to be stars or ocean spray dotted all over it, and the sash was yellow. I'd bought it a couple of years ago, though I couldn't remember why I had, considering that until now I'd never needed it.

"Oooh, that's pretty. I think it'll suit you."

"Thanks."

I was about to put it in my suitcase, and then I paused before changing my mind and putting it on a spare hanger in the wardrobe. I'd be wearing it tomorrow, after all.

"I wonder if the others are going to dress up." I wondered absently.

"Kita-kun and Ho-Chi aren't." Chieko answered immediately.

I gave her a questioning a look.

"The other day when you all went shopping and the three of us stayed back, we were talking about festivals and how it'd be nice to go to one, and the idea, it just sort of came up." Chieko shrugged. "I think we were actually planning to look into it later that day. And then you all came back with a leaflet. "

"That worked out nicely, doesn't it?" I laughed. "We should go and ask the others. They…they'll be finished with the photographs by now."

Chieko gave me a look and eventually nodded.

"Yeah."

"Then, let's go and ask."

I put my notebook and pen away, and stood up, crossing the room. Chieko regarded me carefully again, and then relaxed and nodded.

"Sure."

I linked arms with her, and we left the room together.


	62. Scraps of the Past 13

"Hmmmm…..well now, I wonder, who should I let go this time?"

The woman, whoever she was, let out a throaty chuckle as she paced the room, looking at them through the Monobear mask she was wearing. Despite her rapidly out-of-control heartbeat, Kanekatsu Iwafusa sat as stiffly as possible as she studied the woman (for with that body structure and voice, and of course those long scarlet nails, the person was undoubtedly female) and wondered what sort of facial expression she was wearing underneath that mask of hers. A gloating one? A mocking one? Pure, unadultered glee? Irritation?

 _It could be all of them, but I've no way of knowing._ All she knew was that this woman had some links to that group who had been committing crimes all over the country in the past year, The Remnants of Despair. She knew that somehow, without anyone noticing, this woman had somehow infiltrated Hope's Peak with associates, proceeding to violently round up everyone in the school to gather in the assembly hall and then trapping them there, before setting up some sort of live feed from a tablet and pair of headphones with a microphone, using them to broadcast the events-and communicate with people outside, all while…she wasn't sure what to call all of this.

The woman's associates had mostly let her do the explaining, such as it was, while patrolled the edges of the room in varying paces, all holding guns, ready to use at any moment. Guns that had _already_ been used, she reminded herself, as she looked at the bullet hole in the wall opposite her, the trails of blood already on the ground, and the SHSL Cyclist from Class 77A who was clinging to her arm in pain, blood seeping from the very makeshift bandage that the woman had grudgingly allowed Hironori to make, looking increasingly pale. Thankfully, the rest of those who had been shot had also been the ones to have been let out by her, but this was a dangerous situation, and she knew it.

 _What is actually going on, though? Is someone out there trying to help us? Will we ever get out?_ Kanekatsu liked to hope so. After the woman had trapped them all in here and announced her incomprehensible plans, she had been toying with them, randomly selecting groups of them at a time to 'free' as time went by. Now the only ones left were a couple of homeroom teachers, Class 76A, 77A and 77B. And then of course, their own class, and their own teacher. _Please, let it be us. Let it be us, next._

"Upupu!" the woman giggled suddenly, imitating the bear that her mask portrayed, red nails tapping idly against the back of the tablet she was holding in an irritating rhythm. "I've decided that the next lot I'll let out is….you! And your homeroom teachers! Up, up now!"

The woman was pointing at Class 77B, and almost instantly, a small part of Kanekatsu was able to relax. _That's Shin'ya-kun's class. Oh, thank goodness._ The members of the class got up hesitantly, huddling together fearfully as one of the woman's associates stepped closer to them, brandishing a rifle as he prepared to hustle them out.

"You see that! Look how kind I am, giving another lot back to you! Make sure not to kill them by accident, thinking it's me and all!Hahaha, that would be so despairing though, so maybe you should!"

The group started to move slowly across the hall, shadowed by the masked man-this one was definitely a man, one with a slouchy, almost bored posture-and as they got closer, Kanekatsu could quickly spot Shin'ya, looking out for her, and she sat up a bit straighter, trying to catch his eye. When she did, he hesitated and started to hold a hand out for her, and she grimaced, shaking her head ever so slightly. _No, don't. Keep going, get out of here._ A frown creased Shin'ya's forehead, but before she could try to convey her meaning, there was a sudden gunshot and a couple of shrieks.

"You're not from that class!" The man yelled at Shiro, who was standing up for some reason. One of her sisters had stepped out of the 77B group and had gone deathly pale as she stared at the man. Almost instantly, Shiro's shocked expression dragged downwards, and she started to wail piteously. The sister – _is that Yujiko-san or Goromi-san?-_ glared.

"She's my sister! She can come with us, surely!"

The response was another gunshot fired into the wall just above Shiro's head. This did nothing to stop her crying, but she did sit down again after stumbling, and Wakana and Hibiki were both quick to reach out to her and wrap their arms around her comfortingly, trying to stop her crying, though both girls looked equally terrified. _I'm scared, too._

"Ah, now, you wouldn't want me to change my mind now, would you?" the woman asked mockingly, looking over, one hand tapping against the mask, the nails once again making an irritating noise. _Red nails. Long, red nails._ Kanekatsu committed that detail to memory, then put it aside to concentrate on Shin'ya, who had been staring at the scene in horror, but now turned back to her. _I wish you could stay with me, Shin'ya-kun. But you can't. You can't._

At the question in his soft eyes, Kanekatsu shook her head carefully, and hoped that what she wanted to say conveyed itself in her own eyes. After a long, agonised moment, it seemed to, for he smiled resignedly, and briefly put a hand over his heart-a gesture that had no official meaning, but one that Kanekatsu understood all the same.

 _I love you. I'll come back for you._

Despite the situation, she managed to smile back, and mirrored the gesture. _I love you too. And I'll come back to you._ Then, the woman screeched at them to hurry up, and her masked associate herded the terrified students-and two teachers-out, and the small respite from terror disappeared. She sensed Yashiro's small hand rest awkwardly on top of hers in an attempt at comfort, but even that did nothing to halt her suddenly increasing panic. _Please let us be the next ones to be let out._

 _Breathe, Kane, breathe._ She stiffened herself once again, and focused on the woman, trying to file away any small detail she could-her posture, the tone of her voice, those nails. Those red, long, sharp and shiny nails. Probably fakes, but all the same significant. The best hope of identifying who this woman was so that she could be punished.

 _Red nails. Focus on the red nails._

With Shin'ya safely outside, and the room almost deadly quiet apart from the sounds of everyone's tense breathing and Shiro muffled crying, Kanekatsu let go of everything else, and focused on those nails, and little else asides from those nails. She had no better, more distinctive features to go off in building up a picture of the culprit, but she needed to. For those fellow school-members who had been shot by her associates. For herself, and her terrified classmates, all huddled together. For Shin'ya, and for all the people who had been killed, traumatised and injured in all the other Remnants of Despair's crimes. _I'll memorise those nails, and then I'll bring you to justice, whoever you are._

Focusing hard, she barely noticed what was happening around her, how much time passed. Though in the first place, she wasn't even sure how long they'd been trapped in this place. The woman paced and spewed nonsense as she made her broadcast, and the associates patrolled, occasionally pointing their guns at them whenever one of them made a sudden motion or noise. After a while, the woman announced she was going to let another group of them go, and they all sat up, not daring to look at each other.

"You! Aaaaaand…" moving her finger away from 76A, the woman appeared to pretend to consider them all carefully, doing a bored little dance as she did. _Us. Please choose us. Actually, chose all of us, just finish it, let us go. I don't care what your underlying motivations are, but release us!_

"Obviously, you guys!"

She had pointed at Class 77A. A good thing, given that the cyclist urgently needed medical attention, but Kanekatsu felt herself go lightheaded despite the fact she was sitting down, and she grabbed unconsciously at the person nearest to her to steady herself. _How much longer do we have to be in here…..how long….no, don't panic. The red nails, focus on the red nails. You'll be out very soon._

Looking at who she had clung to, she realised it was Kimihiro, who pulled a face at her in sympathy. She let go of his sleeve rapidly, and nodded an apology, before turning back to the woman, who had decided to escort the last two set of students out herself, and once she had she strode straight over to them, standing directly in front of their little huddled group. Her four associates moved away from the walls and came to gather behind her.

"Upupu…." She laughed joyfully. "Well now, here we are, Class 78, just us. How beautifully, joyfully despairing this will be! Shall we get started, then?"

"Ah, um, if you don't mind me asking, when are you going to let my students out? You have let all the others out, after all."

 _Yukizome-sensei!_

"Hmm, hold on, let me get back to you!" The woman didn't seem bothered, instead paying attention to what whoever she was communicating to on her tablet was saying. After a few moments, she tipped back her masked head and laughed.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA! That's HILLARIOUS! You asked the same question as dear old Yukizome-sensei here! I can answer both of you at once! Well, the short answer is….."

Suddenly, the woman shoved the tablet and headphone set at one of her associates-another female, with a more athletic seeming build-and came around to stand next to them, instead. The associate put on the headphones awkwardly over the mask, and then turned the tablet so she was filming them. Gawping for a moment, Kanekatsu quickly turned her attention back to the initial woman. _Nails, look at the nails._

"Well, the short answer is, never. Take a good, long look at your precious Class 78, because you will never, ever see them again!" Though her voice was still upbeat, it had become a great deal steelier, more buisnessy. But then, all of a sudden, it became girly.

"And why is that, you wonder? Well that, my stupidly despairing idiots, is because I wouldn't be able to play my game if I didn't have the game pieces! So now, I bid you farewell! It's time to start setting things up, after all!"

The woman made a cutting motion through the air, and her accomplice fiddled before taking of the headphones and the tablet-and then dropping them to the floor, watching dispassionately as it hit the ground and audibly cracked.

"No…." Chieko gasped almost quietly. Kanekatsu wanted to cry at the sight, but she kept looking, needing to focus on the nails, so that she could have something to tell the authorities when she got out and got back to Shin'ya. But then, the woman did something unexpected.

She took off her mask.

Given it was a heavy, astronaut-helmet type contraption, it was not easy to remove, but the woman did that, shaking out thick strawberry blond ponytails and revealing a big, triumphant grin to the sounds of audible gasps and splutters of shock. Kanekatsu, on the other hand, just felt herself slump and give up. A face was what she needed, much better than red fake nails at identifying a culprit. But she didn't bother looking.

 _There's no coming back from this, is there? I'm sorry, Shin'ya-kun._

The mask got tossed aside, and Junko Enoshima put her hands on her hips and regarded them all for one moment before she started to speak. But Kanekatsu did not listen. She had no understanding of what was going on, why and how Junko Enoshima had managed to pull this off, and what else she would pull off. But there was no point to the wondering anymore.

Because the one thing she knew for sure was that she would _never_ get out of it.

* * *

 **When the game actually starts, Kane of course has no memory of this moment in her life, but considering that she does become a victim, it turns out that she's 100% correct. Now I'm thinking about it, even if you put aside the fact that she essentially predicted her demise, of all the people who died in the Mutual Killing Game, she probably had the worst fate of them all** **(SanityRequiem, if you're reading this, I reckon this level of misery is right up your street, Bwahaha)** **. Targeted once only to have her closest friend in the class killed instead, then becoming the motivation for another killing, only to later be targeted again and this time actually killed in a slow and painful way just to make a point/mark on history. It would probably have been interesting to see it unfold over the course of the killing game, but I've been enjoying (as sadistic as that makes me sound) writing it from the perspective of looking back on it all, and then putting the despair icing on the despair cake with this little Scrap.**

 **Ahem, anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always, please leave feedback :)**


	63. Starsong

**After the sadness of last week's Scraps of the Past, here's a much nicer chapter =D. I really enjoyed writing this one, so I hope you all enjoy reading it.**

* * *

 _Tyson_

Though I changed into my pyjamas, rather than go straight to bed, I decided to just potter around instead. I checked the weather on my phone, just to double check that it was a clear night (which it was), absently sorted out some of my suitcases, and then eventually settled with a book, waiting.

The plan was that Wakana would come and get me at some point after everyone else was asleep, assuming that she herself hadn't fallen asleep. Now I was thinking about it, it probably wasn't much help to organise something that prevented sleep, but on the other hand, I wanted to look at the sky. I wasn't to spend the entire night waiting, of course-considering our vaguely disastrous sleep habits, we'd eventually decided on one in the morning as the point to stop waiting-but I was going to wait as long as possible.

I was surprised at just how much I wanted it.

 _Is it because I've been reminded of how good it is to be able to see the sky again? Or is it because of her?_

I blinked for a moment, wondering where that thought had come from, and why. I'd be glad to watch the stars with any of them, I knew that. _But this is different, somehow. Maybe…._ but I stopped myself before I could go down that route of thought. It was too soon to really know if it was that kind of closeness. And even if it was, at this point, it didn't matter either way. Wakana was Wakana, and she was the one I most wanted to gaze at the stars with, and that was all there was to it.

And that was why I was staying awake for as long as it took for her to come.

 **…**

The knock was quiet enough that, if I hadn't been looking out for it, I may just have missed it. _But as if I'd let that happen_ , I smiled quietly to myself as I quickly glanced at the time-23:36-and got out of bed, switching off the light on the way to the door.

"Hey," Wakana smiled as soon as she saw me. "You weren't asleep."

"No, I wasn't. "

 _As if I'd let that happen._

"So, you ready then?" I asked.

"Yeah. Let's go."

 **…**

 _Wakana_

"Oh _wow_."

The sky was glittering. I was positive I'd never seen so many stars before, not in just this one section of sky. I stared up at it, rapt.

"Just imagine, if we can see all of this, just from here," I made a sweeping gesture. "The sky must hold so much more."

"Well, the sky's pretty large. Infinite, some might say." Tyson replied, amused.

I turned back around, and smiled at him, before sitting down on the doorstep next to him. He scooted up a little so there was a respectable distance between us, and we looked back up at the stars, in silence.

"We never did ask Nanto about constellations to spot." Tyson said absently after a while.

"No, we didn't." I replied, equally as absently. "I know one, though, sort of. Lyra, Orpheus' lyre. It's…there somewhere?"

I pointed at a bunch of particularly bright stars.

"Orpheus, as in Orpheus and Eurydice?" Tyson asked. "I know that one. Eurydice died, Orpheus went to the underworld to get her back, but he looked back at her before they'd made it to the exit, and then he lost her a second time. I can't remember how exactly he's meant to die, but I know that he was stricken with grief and that it was Jupiter who threw his lyre up there, after he died."

I looked up at the shimmering sky, imagined a man bent double with devastation, dying somewhere alone and in pain, a god reaching down and plucking a lyre from the man's frozen grip and tossing it up in the sky to become part of the heavens. _And now his pain is remembered forever._

"That's a sad story. But that's an unfair condition though, not being allowed to look back at her. Even if it's just for the journey back out of the underworld, wouldn't you want to be sure that she was behind you the whole way? And how could you be sure that this wasn't a trick of some kind?"

"Hmmm." Tyson frowned up. "The Greek gods are fairly whimsical, so that's a possibility. I'd argue that that was the whole reason they set that condition in the first place. Because they _could_."

"And because dead is supposed to mean dead, no matter how much you love them."

 _And as much as I don't even think there's an underworld, if I'd been given the opportunity Orpheus had, I wouldn't have squandered it so easily._ Fictional though this guy was, I envied him. But the feeling faded quickly. After all, the gods weren't real, so what was the point?

"Do you want to hear some other star stories?" Tyson asked after a moment. "I know a few."

I looked over at Tyson, and hesitated, and after a moment I nodded.

So he told me stories. About Andromeda and her arrogant mother, Cassiopeia. There were stories about the constellations that corresponded to the western Zodiac. He talked about the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, and both their Greek versions and Aboriginal versions, as well a story from a Native American tribe that interpreted those stars as Wise Men, rather than sisters. He told a story about a young girl who had thrown ashes from a fire into the sky in a fit of anger to make the Milky Way, and a story that I suddenly realised that I knew already, because it was the reason for the festival _Tanabata_. I listened to them all, and I looked at the sky, trying to pick out each one amongst the glittering.

After a while, Tyson seemed to run out of stories, but that was fine too. We just sat in silence after that, still looking up at the stars, each of us thinking of different things.

"You know, in some cultures it's said that the stars are simply our dead, looking down on us. " Tyson said after a while.

"Yeah, I've heard that too." I replied. "But how do we know what's right? Whether the stars came to be the way they did in those stories you told me, or if they're just Daisuke-Chan, and our other classmates, and everyone else who's ever died?"

"I don't think it matters. It's whatever brings the most comfort, or wonder, or whatever else it is you need or want." Tyson shrugged. "I like all the explanations, really, so I don't have a particular belief about the stars."

"Hmmm."

I looked up at the stars. There was something about the idea of believing that they were all up there in the stars that was a little too similar to the idea of an afterlife for my comfort. But the stories that stated they were specific people, or specific animals, who were now up there forever, their stories immortalised and remembered for generations afterwards, was that any better?

"So...how do you know, then? Which star is which?"

"You just make the best guess, I think. Which one do you think would be whoever? That kind of thing."

"Oh."

That disappointed me, for some reason. _That's not fair. If the stars are our dead, there should be some clear-cut way of working out who is who. Otherwise, what if I'm looking up at someone else completely?_

Despite that, I found myself really scanning the stars, looking up and trying to work it out. What sort of star would Daisuke be? Not one that was overly large or bright, but one that could still guide you home or wherever it is you needed to be. A clear star, maybe one on its own, or maybe one that seemed to be leading others. _No, I can't work it out._

"It's okay," Tyson said after a moment. "I can't work it out, either."

I sighed, and stared up at the sky for a moment longer, before looking to Tyson again. Without saying anything, he held out his hand, and I stretched mine out to meet it. Our clasped hands bridged the gap between us, and that made it safer to look back up again.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

" _I…I don't understand."_

" _You haven't seen Wakana-Chan anywhere?"_

" _No…I went to sleep….." I rubbed my eyes, trying to process. My mind was still full of Koutarou, I wasn't even sure what they were asking me._

" _So Abe-tan wasn't with you in the last few moments."_

Wakana-Chan….? _I wondered, as I willed myself to wake up properly._

" _No….."_

" _Then, that scream….it's…."_

" _What scream?"_

 _Something was stirring inside of me, low and heavy, and the feeling only increased as Noriko and Masashi stared at me._

" _You didn't hear it? Just now?"_

" _I just woke up…." My brain started to put things together, even though I was sure I was missing out on information. "Something's happened? To Wakana-Chan?"_

 _There was a pause as they both looked at me. But suddenly, I felt I couldn't wait._ I have to find her. _Far away, I could hear a couple sets of other footsteps thudding down in the direction of the laundry room._ Is that where she is? _I didn't know, but it didn't matter. It was at least a start, so I pushed past Noriko and Masashi, and ran._

I woke up suddenly, and blinked up at the darkness. _A dream that's not about Koutarou. Well, that makes a change._ I turned over, intending to close my eyes and try and get back to sleep, but then I noticed that Wakana's side of the bed was empty. _Huh?_ I sat up, and looked around the room, but she wasn't in there at all. _Well, I figured that much, so why am I looking around. I suppose I should go look for her, make sure she's alright…._

I got up quietly, then looked around for my pyjama trousers and tugged them on, careful to make as few sounds as possible so I wouldn't wake up Shizuka. Then I left the room, and paused, considering. Somewhere downstairs seemed like the logical choice-I'd heard her mention a couple of times that she sometimes worked on musical pieces when she couldn't sleep, and she _had_ bought a notebook with music staffs in it that day when we'd gone to deliver the Yashiro painting. So that was where I headed, only to see that there was nobody at the table. Puzzled, I stared.

 _What now? Oh, wait…._

I stared at the doors that led to Akira's back garden, and realised that Wakana was there, and not alone either-Tyson was there too. Feeling a strange sense of deja-vu, I quickly retreated to the spot I'd found Hokuto in yesterday when she'd been spying on them, and watched.

They weren't sitting that close to each other this time, but instead they seemed to be looking ahead of them- _at the sky? It does seem pretty clear out tonight…._ -from time to time turning to look at each other at certain points in what I assumed was a conversation. Despite the night outside being clear, the indoor darkness meant I couldn't really see their faces, and so I couldn't tell if she was alright.

 _But, she's seemed happier with him before, and in any case, since someone else is with her, then even if she's not they'd be able to help. But maybe I should…._

As I kept watching, Wakana turned to look at Tyson again. Though I still couldn't see their expressions, I could feel a sort of melancholy emanating from her, and I was all too ready to step forward. But then she held her hand out to Tyson, and he reached out, and then she looked back towards the sky once their hands were joined, and I changed my mind. At this point, it would be more selfish to burst in and presume that I was the key to everything. As far as making sure she was alright went, I'd done my duty for tonight by being here.

 _Though, not forever. Not if I want to be a better sort of friend._

Silently, I turned around and slunk away, carefully climbing back up the stairs and slipping into the bedroom. Shizuka was fast asleep, curled up in her sleeping bag, clutching Yosa tightly. I smiled slightly-that goofy little frog would definitely be something Shizuka would love and look upon fondly as the years went on. _But what sort of childhood memories will I be leaving her with?_ It was not a question I wanted to dwell on now, so I just shook it away and headed back for bed, when something made me pause, and I looked over at the window, thinking of Wakana and Tyson sitting outside and looking at the stars. After yet another moment's pause, I crossed over there instead, and cracking it open a bit, I peered out at the sky and looked up at the stars myself.

" _Oh, look, it's started!"_

 _Excitedly I tugged his arm to make him look up to where I was pointing, at the fireworks that were lighting up the night sky._

" _Yes, yes, I see them." Koutarou muttered. "Don't get all overexcited, now."_

 _I grinned at him for a moment, knowing full well he was enjoying them as much as I was. It was the first time in a while that I'd really been able to feel excited about New Year's fireworks (or any fireworks really), and the first time in a while since I'd decided to go out to watch them instead of peering from my window or watching them on the TV at Koutarou's house. As more people gathered to look at them from this vantage point, I pressed closer to Koutarou and held onto his sleeve again so we didn't get separated._

 _I watched the sky fill with bursts of red, blue, green, orange and more, fizzling away and leaving just the slightest traces of glitter as yet more came in to fill their place, as small gold sparks flew in haphazard arcs and looked almost like stars coming alive._

" _This'll be an interesting year, won't it?"_

 _I almost didn't hear Koutarou over the hustle and bustle around us, and when I looked at him, he was staring at the fireworks, clearly rapt._

" _What do you mean?" I asked._

" _Hope's Peak." He said, simply, without turning._

" _Oh. Right." I said. "Well, of course it will. I'm a bit nervous….but you'll be there, so it'll be fine, right?"_

" _Yeah."_

 _He was still staring at the fireworks, so I couldn't help but take an opportunity to make a dig._

" _Oh, so you tell me to not get overexcited, but you can't even take a moment to reassure a girl?"_

 _That made him turn and raise an eyebrow at me, and I laughed. He studied me for a moment longer, and then his features softened._

" _It'll be fine, Moyashi." He said, with a subtle eye-roll, before looking back up at the fireworks_

" _That's more like it." I teased, doing the same. "And oi, don't call me Moyashi!"_

It was a memory of Koutarou, but still, somehow, I was able to smile a little bit. _There's probably going to be a firework display at the festival tomorrow, isn't there? Once again, it's going to be the first time since I've been to one. And this time, he won't be there…._ that was enough to wipe away what small sense of happiness I was feeling, and I sighed.

 _But, the others will be there too. That, at least, will be something. Right?_

Turning away from the window, I trudged the few steps over to my bed, and then climbed in heavily, curling up and closing my eyes, and willing sleep to come again.

 **…**

 _Wakana_

"I wrote a piece based on the stars." I said, suddenly.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." I nodded, took a breath. "It was a bit _before_ , while I was still in middle school. I called it, somewhat unoriginally, 'Starsong'. Not a long piece, it was just meant to be a portrayal of what the stars sound like."

Tyson nodded at that, and I watched as different expressions flitted across his face, clearly trying to recall the piece.

"It's okay if you can't recall it-it's not like I expect people to have a note-for-note memory of every single piece I've ever composed, ever. I have composed a lot, especially after….."

I could not complete that sentence, and so instead I decided to hum a small section of _Starsong_.

" _Well, that was quite the night!" I exclaimed, yawning halfway through the sentence. "I think it went great, didn't you?"_

" _Yes, I'd call that a successful night." Daisuke agreed, getting his coat from the rack and shrugging it on before handing mine to me._

" _Definitely. Thanks!" I said, taking my coat and shrugging it on. "I'm kind of sad it's the last one though."_

" _Well, it'll only be the last until you bring out your next composition, or in my case, until the next performance I'm asked to conduct at."_

 _Once we'd gathered our things, we went to wait outside at the meeting spot where we were going to be picked up-well-lit, and in full view of the security guys at the door, just in case something happened. Casually, I glanced up at the sky, only to see it was glittering._

" _Oh? I was under the impression it was meant to be a cloudy night." Daisuke commented, also noticing._

" _So did I!" I exclaimed. "But look at this, isn't it beautiful? They look like jewels or….oh!"_

 _It struck me, quite suddenly._

" _Daisuke-Chan, what do you think the stars sound like?"_

" _What do the stars….sound like?" Daisuke repeated. "What do you mean?"_

" _The star's music, what do you think it would sound like? Because something as beautiful and awe-inducing as this, it surely has to have music too."_

" _Hmmm…." Daisuke adopted a thoughtful expression. "I think sometimes the higher notes of a piano, when they're played, sound quite glittery. And the harp, too…."_

" _Bells, possibly, small glass bells, though that'd maybe be a bit unorthodox….."_

 _We discussed ideas for a little while more, until we both started to feel tired from the day (and night's) efforts and couldn't stop yawning._

" _I'm sure that'll be enough to start me off. I'm sure my mind'll start to put it all together while I'm sleeping, once I actually get to bed…" I mused longingly, thinking of my warm, soft bed._

" _You have school tomorrow too, don't you?" Daisuke asked me._

" _Yeah, we've got to start thinking about what high schools we want to go to. Is it the same with you?"_

" _Yes," Daisuke nodded. "Though I'm not sure where to choose. There are a couple of good public schools in my area that have decent music provision, but I'm not interested in going anywhere fancy even if they have better music provision."_

" _Mum really wants me to go to the private high school she was in before she was accepted at Hope's Peak, but Dad's saying I should set my sights to places overseas, and the trouble with that is both of those sound like good ideas. But it'd be nice if we went to the same high school though, wouldn't it?"_

" _Yes it would." Daisuke nodded. "But…oh, I think that's my mother."_

 _Sure enough, a car was pulling up in front of us, and there was another one right behind it, which I recognised as my Dad's car._

" _Ah, Dad's here too."_

" _That's good timing. Well, I'll call you tomorrow and we can talk about your star music, or school, and I'll see you later."_

" _Yeah, bye, Daisuke-Chan!"_

I let the humming taper off, and I hugged my knees to my chest with my free arm.

"Are you alright, Wakana?" Tyson asked.

"Yeah…." I sighed. "Yeah…."

"I think I recognise it, from your humming. I like it."

"Trust me, it sounds better when it's actually played with instruments, by an orchestra."

"Well then, I'll have to find it and have a listen at some point."

"I'm sure I have a recording with me on my phone. If I do, I'll lend it to you."

"Thank you."

I smiled at Tyson, though it was a half-hearted effort, and suddenly felt like we were sitting too far apart. After all, we'd been so much closer before. Quickly, I scooted up so I was closer. Tyson regarded me quizzically, then let go of my hand to put his arm around me. I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder, looking back up at the stars. We stayed like that for a moment.

"It's nice, being here, isn't it?"

 _Here, specifically? Or the reunion in general?_ Considering the answer to both those things was 'yes', it was a bit of a moot point.

"Mhm." I agreed.

This sense of safety here with Tyson was nice, too. It was wonderful, that we'd been able to bond like this, in this particular way. Perhaps, if I was lucky, it could endure even after this reunion was over and we went back to our lives, and maybe…

 _No. No. What am I wishing for? How can I? How?_

I sat up, suddenly, edging away, trying to return to the distance we'd been sitting at.

"Wakana?"

Tyson let his arm fall back to his side, and he stared at me, in some concern.

"I….." I let out a shaky breath. "I can't."

"Can't what?" he asked, quietly.

"I can't….us…I…"

I couldn't even say it, and though in that moment I hated myself for it, it was better like that. It was better that way, wasn't it? If I didn't say it, then perhaps there was less possibility of anything coming from it at all. If I kept it unreal, then perhaps I could get back to getting used to loneliness again. _Because now I'm wishing, and wishing, and wishing for a type of life that I don't even deserve, that's too out of my reach._

"I'm sorry," I apologised, shaking my head, trying to clear any hint of what I had just been thinking. "It's nothing."

"It's not nothing." Tyson said, a little insistent.

"De Guerre-Chan, really, it's fine."

Tyson frowned, and I cringed. But then, his expression turned inwards, as if he was thinking deeply. I held my breath. _I've ruined things now, haven't I? I should have just liked this as it was, then even though it'd still be hard, there'd be one less problem wi-_

"Okay, you don't have to say anything, but I can make a reasonable guess. I won't tell you what that guess is for now, but assuming I am correct in thinking that I know what you're thinking of….at this moment, I don't think I can either."

I wasn't sure what I had been expecting, but it wasn't this. And I still wasn't even sure what this meant. So I waited for him to continue.

"Though I think we're both feeling something, I'm pretty sure I don't even know if it is what I think it could be, and what you're thinking your feelings could be. In the first place, before doing anything, there needs to be time to figure things out. And then, after that, if it does turn out to be the case….well, I've been divorced, I'd prefer to take things slow anyway."

I opened my mouth, then closed it again.

"I…..so, then, what happens now?" I asked in a small voice. "With us?"

"Well…." Tyson rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "We could just continue the way we are now. Whatever and however it is, I like being with you. So…"

"Yeah." I could not hide how relieved I was, despite myself. "Yeah, I like being with you too."

"Though, there's one thing?"

"Which is?" I asked cautiously.

"I'm already on a first term basis with you, maybe you could start using my first name too?"

"Yes, that's doable…Tyson-Chan."

He smiled, and I smiled back. Then, though I hesitated for a moment, I moved back over again.

…

Eventually, we decided that it was time to get some sleep.

"We'll be looking up at the sky tomorrow again after all, with the others this time." I said as we headed back upstairs.

"What do you mea-oh, yeah, fireworks displays. Yes, that will be nice."

"It will, won't it?" I reached the door to the bedroom, then looked at Tyson, really looked at him.

 _We'll be fine, whatever happens, right?_

"Goodnight, Tyson-Chan."

Tyson smiled at me, and it warmed me right to my edges.

"Goodnight, Wakana."

He went back into his room, and I slipped into mine, making sure to be quiet as I closed the door behind me and climbed into my side of the bed. With her back turned to me, I presumed Chieko was asleep, but as I lay down, she stirred and turned around slowly.

"Wakana….Chan?" she murmured sleepily.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"You okay?" she asked, not opening her eyes.

"Yeah, I am."

"Okay, good."

With that, Chieko seemed to fall asleep again, so I decided to close my eyes and do the same. And as I did, I thought that though my answer to her had been as automatic as it usually was, it was 100% honest.

 _Yeah. We'll be fine, whatever happens._


	64. Festival Fun

_Chieko_

"Oooh."

Shizuka twirled around and around, alternating between peeking at herself in the mirror every so often and looking down to see how she looked. I watched all of this, amused, and just quietly went to get her comb and hair-things while she did this.

"Mummy, do I look pretty?" Shizuka asked me.

I turned to see that she'd stopped twirling and was now smiling up at me expectantly. _Not just pretty, beautiful._

"Yes, you do." I replied, simply. "But what do _you_ think, do you like it?"

"Lots and lots!" she said earnestly. Then, there was a pause as she thought for a moment, before running up to hug me.

"Thank you, for buying it, Mummy!"

"That's okay." I said, hugging her back. "Now, go and sit on the bed, so I can do your hair."

"Okay!"

Shizuka let go of me and obediently went to sit on the bed, being extra careful to make sure her clothes weren't all crumpled. I took the things over, and then proceeded to comb and style her hair into two buns, with hair ribbons and a couple of pretty hairpins.

"There we are, all done. "

Shizuka leapt off of the bed, and then went to look in the mirror, clearly pleased with what she saw. _What would I have done,_ I wondered, _if there had been no Shizuka? What would I be doing now? Whatever it is, I don't think I'd be in as good a place as I am now._

Let's take a picture of you, then. The first time wearing a brand-new _yukata_ only happens once, you know." I said, going to get my phone.

Shizuka bounded over to the wall, and I was just about to take a picture when Wakana walked in.

"I think I need a little help to tie up my ob-oh, Shizuka-Chan, look at you! You look really nice in that."

"Thank you, Wakana-san." Shizuka said, blushing slightly.

"No problem."

"You need help with your _obi_?" I asked, quickly glancing over to Wakana.

"Yes, but it's fine, go ahead and capture this moment for posterity."

Wakana went and sat down on the bed, while I snapped a couple of pictures. Knowing that at least a couple of the others were downstairs, I sent Shizuka downstairs to be with them, and once she had left, I turned to Wakana and went over to help her. She'd more or less got it around her, but in all fairness, tying something up around your back wasn't that easy. I adjusted it and tied it tighter.

"Yeah, that's better." Wakana said, examining it. "Thanks."

"Not a problem. Want me to do your hair for you?" I offered. "I still have a couple of hairpins left."

"Hmmm…." Wakana considered this. "Do you think you could just turn this into a bun?"

She indicated the plait her hair was already in.

"Yes, that's doable."

I went over to sit behind her, and we sat in silence for a few moments as I arranged her hair and put the hairpins in place. When she was done, she inspected it in the mirror for a moment, and then smiled.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"You're not doing anything with your hair?"

"It would look a bit overdone, considering I'm not even wearing a _yukata_." I said, looking down at my black jeans and light green top, and then over at the thin red hoodie that was waiting for me on the bed.

"Yes, that's a good point." Wakana agreed. "So, are the Higuchis joining us, or?"

"Unfortunately Ayame-Chan seems to have caught a summer cold, so it's out of the question." I said, recalling the message Sakura had left for me this morning. "Renge-Chan's going to be there anyway, so I suspect we might bump into her."

"Yeah, you mentioned that about the oldest, but it's a shame about that. I thought it would have been nice to meet her."

I thought about that. Sakura, my fellow widow, someone I understood all too well despite how short a time we'd known each other for, and a fellow parent, too. Then there was Wakana, a fellow survivor, my best friend (after Koutarou), and someone I had known for years and been through so much with. I was lucky, to have the both of them in my life. _Really lucky._

"Yes, it would have been. But we'll organise something." I decided. "Later, after this is over."

"Sounds good." Wakana smiled.

I studied her. She seemed a little happier, somehow. Or maybe not quite happier, so much as lighter. There was sadness still there, which I could easily recognise because I could see the same feeling on me when I looked in the mirror. But somehow, now, it didn't look like it weighed her down so much. _I wonder if that's a result of last night. Either way, it's a good thing._

"I'm really looking forward to this." Wakana said suddenly.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I am too. It's a nice sort of thing to do. Anything in particular you're more interested in?"

"The fireworks." Wakana said without any hesitation. "Definitely the fireworks. Getting to look up at them with you, and Tyson-Chan, and everyone else."

"Yeah, that'll be nice."

"I just wish…." Wakana paused. "I just wish that the others were here, too. That we were able to go and watch it with all of them as well."

"Yeah…." _Koutarou,_ I thought. "Yeah…."

 _I wish that too. Almost more than anything, I wish that too. Sure, I had many years of doing everything with him, but…the thing about those was that they always came with the promise of more times like that to come. I don't think I ever really dreamed that one day, one of them would be the last, especially not so soon. Then again, before…that happened, did any of us? Still…_

"At least we're all still here, together as Survivors."

"Hmmm."

I caught something-a flicker, a hint of unease-in Wakana's expression and I wasn't sure what it was. But I was pretty sure it had been aimed at 'Survivors', and I could make a good guess as to what it could be.

"Wakana-Chan…how do you feel about us being SHSL Survivors?"

Wakana stared at me, eyes widened. She opened her mouth, but then closed it again, and looked away. I waited, and eventually she answered.

"I….hate it." She said reluctantly. "I hate how it focuses more on us, than them, and how it makes it seem like it's an achievement that we survived-and I mean, in a way, in some ways, it is. Like with you, for example. The extra chance you gave us with the last trial, and all that. But…it's not something that we should be praised and celebrated for, you know? Especially when it's at the expense of the others who weren't so lucky-and isn't that what most of it was? Just luck?"

Wakana stopped for a moment, and took a breath, before continuing.

"The thing is, before, I used to really like it. We really connected, didn't we, over coming up with it, and I thought it would keep us all connected afterwards."

"Has it not?" I asked. I would have said that it did, but it seemed like all this time Wakana may have had a different opinion.

"It has," Wakana slumped. "And that's what makes it so difficult. It has strengthened our bonds, and even besides that, it's helped the others a lot. Tyson-Chan, I know he really likes the label; it's his badge of honour. And I know Kazama-Chan uses it to motivate himself, especially as he was the one who decided on the name specifically. And then there's you….you have a completely different perspective of it, and it seems to help you. I can't help but like that about it. But apart from that, I hate it."

"I….." I struggled with what to say. "Would you want us to stop using it, if we could?"

"No." Wakana shook her head. "I couldn't do that, not when it's still working. "

"Perhaps we could talk about it, another time." I said. "There might be a solution that works for all of us. Though I wouldn't know what that is."

"Thank you, Chieko-Chan." Wakana smiled at me. "But, it's fine, really. It's just another one of those things I have to live with."

I nodded at that. If that was what she wanted, then that was the main thing. At least I'd been able to help, in some way, or so I hoped. Absently, I glanced at the time, and was about to suggest we go downstairs, but something completely different came out of my mouth.

"You know, I think Ho-Chi ships you and De Guerre-kun."

"What?" Wakana said, befuddled. "Why?"

"Erm…." That was a good question, actually. "Because she's Ho-Chi?"

"Well, that makes a certain amount of sense. But, there's nothing going on there for her to ship." Wakana said firmly, though she was clearly amused.

"Thought as much." I said.

"I haven't really noticed her doing anything…shippy, for lack of a better term, though." Wakana frowned.

I decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to mention the whole hovering-around-in-the-kitchen thing, not least because I'd done it too. Albeit unintentionally. So I just shrugged, and pulled a face, and she laughed.

"It doesn't really matter, anyway." She decided. "So, we should probably go down there now, right? The others must be waiting."

"Yeah," I agreed. "let's go."

 **…**

Unsurprisingly, the festival was busy. People of all ages, in _yukata_ or _yukata_ dresses or _jinbei_ or street clothes, streaming from all directions. Some were running, some were walking, others were clustered around stalls. From the outside, the eight of us were just a part of the crowd-there was nothing that marked us as being different, or out of the ordinary. We were just another group of festival goers, here to enjoy the games and food and fireworks and general good times. I was glad of that.

"Hold onto my hand-or one of the others' hands-so you don't get lost, okay?" I told Shizuka as we walked in and started to look around.

"Yes, Mummy." Shizuka said, though she wasn't paying attention to me, so enraptured she was by the colours and the sounds.

"So…where should we start?" Akira asked.

"Get something to eat?" Noriko asked hopefully.

"We just got here, and the first thing you want to do is eat?" Masashi snorted.

"Well, it _does_ smell good here." Tyson said.

"I agree! Speaking of which," Hokuto pointed at Tyson dramatically. "We need to introduce you to the wonders of festival food! Right, guys?"

"Well, that's true…." Akira mused. "Though I'm sure we can do that over the course of the night anyway, there's no rush."

"I know that!" Noriko huffed, though she didn't seem particularly annoyed. Then, her attention was caught by a particular stall.

"Oh, look, choco bananas! De Guerre-kun, you absolutely have to try one."

Sure enough, the stall was one selling choco bananas, as well as candy apples, candyfloss and some other sweet things. We headed over to it, and Shizuka started to bounce slightly.

"Mummy, are we buying one?" she asked, though I fully suspected she'd ask for everything if she could get away with it.

"We'll see…" I said.

"Are choco bananas special?" Tyson wanted to know.

The look that Noriko gave him in response was so exaggeratedly mock-horrified, we all ended up laughing.

"They're a pretty standard food when it comes to festivals, mate." Masashi explained eventually. "You'd be hard pressed to find a festival without them."

"Oh." Tyson looked bemused. "I didn't expect that to be a staple festival food. I thought something like _takoyaki_ would be, but not chocolate covered bananas."

"Well, you're right about the _takoyaki_ , too. But choco bananas are also ubiquitous." Akira said. "But anyway, I'll treat you guys on this stall. What do you want?"

"I'll have to try a choco banana, then." Tyson said.

"I'll have one too." Masashi said.

"Me, too." I then turned to Shizuka. "What do you want?"

Shizuka stared at the available sweets for a long moment, scrutinising them all with more intensity than what was probably needed, before eventually making her decision:

"Candyfloss, please."

"Oh, that's a good choice, I think I'll go for that too." Wakana said.

Noriko decided on a choco banana, while Hokuto got a candy apple, and Akira got a choco banana for himself. The vendor seemed pretty amused by our antics and was friendly as he made all our order, and he had been pretty interested in Tyson in particular.

"So, is this your first time in Japan?" he asked him.

"Second time, actually," Tyson said. "But the first time was a while back, and I didn't get a chance to visit a festival then."

"Ah, I see. Well, I hope you enjoy your time here."

The vendor handed out the last of the orders, then gave Akira back his change before looking at the rest of us, still smiling merrily.

"The same goes to all of you, for that matter, though I'm sure it's not your first time to a festival.

"No, it isn't." Akira replied for all of us. "Thank you."

"Not a problem. "

Sweet treats in hand, we headed further up the path, watching everything that was going on, munching on our snacks. Not spotting anything in particular, we turned the corner to start on the next path.

"Mummy." Shizuka said, tugging on my hand.

"What is it?" I asked her.

She pointed slightly ahead of her using her stick of partially-eaten candyfloss. There was a small stall with rows and rows of plastic masks-mascots, anime characters, some slightly more ornately decorated animal ones and more besides that.

"You want one?" I asked, internally sighing.

Shizuka nodded, and looked up at me with wide eyes. _Well, this is a holiday, I suppose…_ And I had distant memories of a festival years and years back, slightly older than Shizuka but well before my mother's accident, giggling over a stall with similar sorts of masks. I'd picked a cute magical-girl mascot one, while Koutarou, to the best of my memory, had gone for the fact of some sort of action figure-type character. But not before trying on at least five different others and persuading Koutarou to do the same, which had probably annoyed the poor stallholder to no end, though I had no recollection of him telling us off or anything like that. _Perhaps I could dig out that mask if it's still at home, and I could tell Shizuka the story,_ I thought. And just like that, my decision had been made.

"You know what, I feel like getting a mask myself." Akira said unexpectedly, just as I was about to answer Shizuka. "How about I get you one?"

"No, that's alright, I can do it-"

"It's fine, it can be my treat."

I hesitated, considering it.

"Okay then, but I'll pay for the next thing you end up doing or buying." I said determinedly.

Akira considered this for a moment.

"Done." He said, nodding.

"Shizuka, you go with Akira-san to buy a mask, okay?"

"Oooh, plastic mask?" Hokuto said suddenly. "I'll come too."

"What the hel-heck, I may as well too, if we're going all out." Masashi said.

Without me needing to tell her, Shizuka let go of my hand and held onto Akira's, and then the four of them walked across to the stall and started to study the masks. I watched them carefully at first, not willing to take my eyes off of Shizuka for a single second, but gradually, as I finished my choco banana and threw the stick away and chatted to Tyson, Wakana and Noriko, I gradually became less cautious. Though I still looked back every few seconds to make sure that she was still there.

Eventually, they came back. Shizuka had picked a Hello Kitty mask, which she was wearing, while Masashi had a blue mask which I thought might have been something like a Power Ranger-though I couldn't be sure-which he was wearing on top of his head like it was a pair of sunglasses. Akira had gone for a white-and-gold fox mask, and Hokuto had one that looked like an abstract sun with facial features. She was wearing hers on the back of her head, and it was this fact that she and Shizuka were eagerly having a conversation about.

"Now nobody will be able to tell which side's my actual face."

"I can."

"Really? Well then, which side is my actual face?"

"That one!"

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I'm looking at it now. And it has your eyes and nose and everything."

"Oh, and what if I turned around like this?"

"The face doesn't move when you speak, and plus a person's back body looks different to their front body."

"Well dang, you've got me there."

"What are you even on about?" I asked, laughing as they approached us.

"Bet you can't tell which side's my real face!" Hokuto grinned, turning around as if to demonstrate.

"Unfortunately, I'm with Shizuka-Chan." Noriko said. "She's right about people's fronts and backs looking different. Still, it's a cool mask."

"Aw man." Hokuto pouted.

Shizuka looked up at her, and then patted her arm consolingly.

"It's okay, I think maybe some people won't know the difference between the front body and back body, so you can confuse them instead."

I bit back a laugh while Hokuto cackled.

"You know what, that's a good idea." She said happily. "But anyway, what now?"

"I spotted a shooting booth nearby," Akira said. "I'm interested in trying that out. Anyone want to as well?"

"I'll pass, thanks." I said, shooting Akira a look. Knowing what I was thinking, he nodded before turning to the others.

"I'd like to have a try." Tyson said.

"I think I will, too." Wakana said. "It'll be fun anyway."

With that decided, we walked over to the shooting booth. I paid for Akira's goes, and then turned around to the others.

"Maybe we should find something else to do while they're busy there." Noriko suggested. "Nearby, of course."

"Mhm."

I looked around. There was a coconut shy, a game involving throwing rings over poles, a fish scooping game, and a ball scooping game as well. Also, oddly, there seemed to be a couple of arcade machines that looked a good few decades old and utterly inexplicable in the context.

"Fish!"

Of course, Shizuka would notice that first and foremost. I sighed.

"We have no way of taking a fish home with us though." I explained.

"Awww." Shizuka drooped.

She stared longingly at the fish scooping game, which had a small group of nine-or-ten-year-olds clustered around it, and then she gasped suddenly and stared at the group.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's Renge-Chan!" she stage-whispered.

"Is it?" I squinted, and realised she was probably right, though I couldn't tell. "Call her."

Shizuka shook her head and blushed.

"Why don't you go over to see then?" Noriko suggested.

Shizuka looked at her uncertainly, and then over at me.

"It's just over there after all, Akamine-tan." Masashi pointed out. "And we can always follow."

 _Yeah, that's true._

"Okay, "I told her. "You go over."

Beaming, Shizuka took off, and my heart sped up for the few moments it took for her to get over to the group of girls, and the few extra it took for us to get to them. One turned, and I could see for sure it was indeed Renge-looking pretty in a bright green _yukata_ dress- and that calmed me.

"Is your Mama with you-oh, she is! Hiya." Renge smiled as we reached her.

"Hello, Renge-Chan, how are you?" I asked.

"I'm fine, thank you." Renge smiled, the picture of politeness. "Mama was gonna come with Ayame, but Ayame's sick. I said to Tsubaki that she could come with me, but she said Ayame would feel left out so she didn't. But it would have been fine because my friends don't really mind. Right?"

Renge looked at the small group of girls who were with her, and they all nodded solemnly. A couple shuffled shiftily and I suspected that they actually would have minded having a girl a few years younger than them joining in with their fun, but that Renge would have none of it. For kids, things like this were sometimes both a huge deal and not a deal at all.

"I know, she told me." I told Renge in response to her statement about Ayame. "I do hope Ayame-Chan gets better soon."

"Why are you with your Mama anyway?" another of the girls asked Shizuka. "You're the same age as Ren-Chan's sister, right?"

Shizuka nodded shyly, and I was about to say something when Renge spoke up.

"Shizuka-Chan's from Yokohama, she doesn't know the way around here or anything."

"Ohhh." A few of the other girls said in unison.

"So, you're like a tourist?" one of them then went on to ask Shizuka.

Shizuka shrugged, probably unsure by what was meant by a 'tourist'.

"I'm on holiday with Mummy and her friends."

"You're _all_ tourists?" this same girl asked, eyeing the rest of us with a mixture of curiosity and scepticism.

"Not me, I'm local." Masashi said, somewhat awkwardly.

"He drives buses." Renge informed her little group of friends. "He's cool."

I snuck a look at Masashi, who was blushing slightly and clearly pleased and clearly trying not to show it.

"So, anyway, are you going to catch fish?"

"I can't." Shizuka said mournfully. "I can't take the fish home."

"Oh." Renge frowned. "I'm trying to catch a fish to take home to cheer up Ayame and Tsubaki, maybe you could help me with it?"

Shizuka nodded at this. Renge picked up a spare net and handed it to her, and as the girls returned to concentrating on the fish, one of them budged up so that Shizuka could kneel and join in. I watched them for a few seconds, until Masashi tapped my shoulder.

"There's a ball scooping thing there, look." He said, pointing at the next stall over, which Noriko and Hokuto had gone to at some point without me noticing. "Let's go do that until they're finished. You can see them from over there anyway."

I took a breath, and then nodded.

"Okay." I said. Then, I turned to Shizuka again for a moment.

"We're just over there if you need us, okay?" I told her.

"Okay, Mummy." She said, barely even looking up.

 _Yeah, she'll be fine._

 **…**

 _Wakana_

We had decided on between three and five goes each, depending on how easy it was for us to hit our targets, but the stall was short enough that only two of us could stand at it at any one time. Not wanting someone to feel left out, we decided instead to go one at a time, and then the only thing left was to decide who.

"Ladies first, I think." Tyson said.

"That's fine by me." Akira shrugged.

"Okay, I'll give it a try."

"You're ready?" the stall vendor asked.

"Yes, I am, thanks."

The man gave me the gun, and I attempted it to hold it properly.

"Ah, here." Tyson reached over, and helped me adjust it. "Hold it a bit like this…no, like that. There, you've got it."

"Thanks." I smiled at him.

I turned back towards the array of targets, and considered them. I did wonder what would happen if one of them broke, given that the targets were the prizes themselves, but I supposed that the things selected were things that wouldn't suffer too much from being hit with a rubber bullet and knocked off a stand. I aimed for a magical girl figurine, and made my shot, but it went wide and disappeared somewhere into the depths. Next, I tried a hat that was decorated to look like a brain, and though I was closer this time, it still didn't hit it.

 _Hmmm…._

I stepped back a little, and then forward, and looked at the array of prizes. Eventually, I settled on a grey, floppy eared stuffed rabbit with sad eyes and a smart suit, sitting inside a clear plastic bag. Carefully, I trained the gun on it, and made my shot. The bullet flew through the air and…

…hit the toy.

Slamming straight into its middle, where a heart would be if stuffed toys had hearts, the force knocked the rabbit straight off the stand, making Akira and Tyson whoop with joy and the stall vendor smile wryly.

"Congratulations." The vendor said, picking up the rabbit, dusting it off and handing it to me. "Did you want to take another go?"

Awkwardly juggling the gun, I held the rabbit and studied it as I carefully unwrapped the packaging. Despite how violently it had been knocked off, the rabbit didn't seem too worse for wear. If this had been a person, there would definitely be signs of having been slammed with a bullet, even if it was just a rubber one. _And if it was real…_

… _If there had been guns available, would those who killed have gone for those, instead? Would those have made a difference? Would have there been more carnage?_

 _All that blood….no, I don't want to think about it._

With a smile, I determinedly pushed down the unpleasant thoughts and shook my head.

"No, it's okay, I'm fine with this."

I handed back the gun so the vendor could reload it with the rubber bullets, and stepped off to the side.

"Alright, then which one of your friends would like to have a go?" the vendor asked, holding the reloaded gun.

"You go first, sir." Tyson offered.

"No, it's fine, you go first." Akira said.

"Well, if you insist, then I will." Tyson decided, stepping up.

He took the gun, held it in the proper way with an effortless ease, and shot off five bullets at great speed. They all hit prizes-a couple of figurines (one normal, one bobble-head), a piggy bank shaped like a _taiyaki,_ some sort of board game and the same brain cap I had tried to shoot.

"You're good." Akira said wonderingly.

Tyson shrugged modestly as the vendor handed him his prizes. Akira smiled, and stepped up.

"I'm probably not going to be as good as that." Akira said. "But I'll give it all it's worth anyway."

"As much as I enjoy seeing people win, I hope you don't get as many as your friend here," the stall vendor quipped. "I don't want to run out of prizes."

Somehow, looking at the array he still had, that didn't seem like something that was about to happen any time soon. But the vendor grinned and winked as he said it, so it was safe to think he was joking.

Akira took a moment to decide, and then fired two shots. One hit some sort of robot, another missed. The next one also missed, but the next one shot a smiley-face emoji cushion and the final one seemed to follow it pointlessly, thwacking into the cushion's packaging as it fell.

"Not bad." Tyson said, nodding.

"Thanks." Akira said, addressing him and the vendor as the latter handed over the two prizes.

I threw away the plastic packaging from the rabbit, and then we walked back to find the others. Noriko and Hokuto were at an old arcade machine, while Masashi, Chieko and Shizuka were near to what looked like a fish scooping game, bidding farewell to a group of girls who looked a few years older than Shizuka.

"Oh, hey." Hokuto said, noticing us first. "Had fun?"

"Yeah." I replied. Akira and Tyson chimed in with agreement

"Let's have a look at all that then." She said, abandoning the game to examine the various prizes we had.

Noriko went to get the others, and when they came back over there was a bit of oohing and aahing over the prizes, and when Akira related how easily and quickly Tyson had shot down his prizes, there was a lot of awe around that. Eventually, we set off again to find something else to do.

"Who were those kids you were with?" Tyson wanted to know.

"That was Renge-Chan and some of her school friends." Chieko answered.

"Oh, the eldest Higuchi child?" Akira asked.

"Yup, that's the one." Masashi said.

"Oh, that's nice." I looked over to Shizuka. "That must have been fun for you."

"Yeah! I helped her catch a fish!" Shizuka said proudly.

"Good for you!"

We walked and chatted a little while more, stopping at a stall for some _yakisoba_ and _takoyaki_ and a few other snacks, but otherwise just looking around. After a while, I heard the sounds of a song overlapping with the other sounds of the festival. _Sounds like something to dance to,_ I thought.

"Hey, is that a Bon dance I can hear?" Noriko asked before I could say anything.

And then before anyone could answer her, we arrived at an open space where sure enough, there were festival goers dancing around a _yagura_. Even though the sort of music I made was not really the type to be danced to, I was not immune to the power music had in this regard.

"Oh, we have to join in!" I exclaimed.

"No, thanks." Chieko shook her head.

"Yeah, let's go for it!" Hokuto said, Noriko nodding in agreement along with her. "And you've gotta try too!"

Tyson gave Hokuto a surprised stare as she pointed at him, then shrugged and nodded.

"Sure, okay."

"You know what, you only live once, so yeah, whatever!" Masashi said, grinning.

"I'll hold everyone's things so anyone who wants to dance can." Akira offered. "I don't mind."

"Shizuka-Chan, do you want to dance?" I asked her.

"No, I'd prefer her to stay here, with me." Chieko said, slightly anxiously. Shizuka looked up at her, also slightly anxious.

"It's okay." I reassured. "We'll all keep an eye on her."

"Can I, Mummy?" Shizuka asked in a tiny voice. "I want to dance."

Chieko sighed, looking over at the other dancers. I could understand why she was concerned, there were a lot of people dancing, and many were grownups.

"Do you really want to, Shizuka?" she asked eventually.

Shizuka nodded determinedly.

"Okay," Chieko sighed. "But stay close to them, and don't try to come back without one of them with you."

"Okay Mummy!"

Shizuka hopped over to me and took my hand, and then we went to join the dance.

 **...**

 _Masashi_

I did another turn, and then decided to stop. I was starting to feel more than a little creaky, and quite hungry too. Dodging other dancers, I quickly ran over to the side, where Chieko was waiting with Akira, carefully watching Shizuka as she attempted to follow the dance moves and was fawned over by the others and other adults alike.

"Chickened out?" Akira asked, slightly teasing.

My response was an affectionate middle finger, which made them both laugh.

"I'm getting old, don't blame me." I joked.

"It's so fun just watching them though," Chieko said. "De Guerre-kun's quite good at it."

I hadn't been paying close attention, but now she was mentioning it, Tyson had taken to the Bon dance like a duck to water, much to the joy of several old people who were nearby cheering him on. Now, if someone had told me seven years ago that my uptight, overly formal British classmate would one day be uninhibitedly taking part in a Japanese dance with no sense of self-consciousness and be good at it to boot, I would have laughed them out of the room and dismissed the idea as ridiculous. But over the course of time, the dude had gradually changed, and as the person he was now, though the sight was still a little surprising, it wasn't as unbelievable. I'd like to think that he would have loosened up in a similar way if life had gone on as normal and that seven years later in that normal life a scene much like this one would still be playing out. But just as there were no time machines, there weren't any parallel-life machines around either, so that was a moot point.

"Hah, you're right!" I exclaimed. "Who would have thought, huh? Shizuka-tan's enjoying it too - it's pretty damn cute."

"Yeah, it is." Chieko agreed, still watching them intensely.

I blushed slightly, glad that she wouldn't notice. In truth, 'pretty damn cute' was an extreme understatement, not just in relation to Shizuka, but her mother, too. It was tempting to blurt out my confession right there and then, if not for the fact Akira was right next to us, and giving me a funny look. _Oops_. To cover, I pulled a face at him briefly and turned to watch the others.

Eventually, the current song started to draw to a close, and Wakana escorted Shizuka over to us. Noriko and Hokuto quickly followed, and Tyson was the last, as he had to extricate himself from the people who had taken a shine to him. But after much head pats (or shoulder pats, given he was pretty much taller than most of them) and compliments and hand-shakes and bows, he was eventually able to come over to that.

"Well, after all that, I think I need something to eat." He said, sounding a little tired.

"I don't blame you!" I said. "You were on fire there, mate."

"Yes, well." Tyson shrugged modestly, before taking his prizes off of Akira.

"Well, how about we go and find something, then we'll go find a good spot to watch the firework display from." Akira suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Wakana agreed.

I was about to agree, but I was also looking around at the other people coming and going for no particular reason, and one caught my eye. _Wait, is that….?_ I squinted for a closer look, but before I could, they were gone.

"Hey, you okay?" Hokuto asked me.

"I….." I sighed. "Nah, just had a stupid moment where I thought I saw Hikari."

"Your sister? Why not go look for her?"

"Well, whoever it is has gone now, besides, it's probably a complete stranger. I'm not that lucky."

I shrugged, annoyed with myself for letting myself hope on such a tiny glance.

"Anyway, let's go, I want to eat too."

We left the area, and as we did, a new song for the _Bon_ dance began, and at the same time a whole flood of people came into the area, jostling us around. One particular crowd almost barrelled right into our group, separating me and Hokuto from the others and prompting a lot of apologies and the like. We barrelled through, and the crowd soon dissipated, and then we turned to find the others, and that's when I heard Chieko scream.

"Shizuka?"

* * *

 **Believe it or not, this was not initially what I was planning to happen. But I didn't actually have many things happening between them just sorta hanging out around the festival and what's going to happen at the end of next chapter, so it's probably a good thing. But still, I really enjoyed writing this chapter as well and I think it shows. I hope you all enjoy reading it, too!**


	65. This Is The Moment

_Chieko_

One minute, she had been there, the next minute, she had not.

 _But I had been holding her hand, I hadn't taken my eyes off of her…._ and yet, I must have fallen short somewhere, if I'd still lost her.

"Shizuka?" I yelled over the crowds. "Shizuka!"

I scanned the hordes of people-some of whom were shooting me curious looks-but I couldn't see any sign of her.

"Shizuka!" I yelled again.

"Oi, Shizuka-tan!"

"Shizuka-Chan!"

Wakana and Masashi also yelled and looked around for her, and I noticed the others snagging passers-by and asking them if they'd seen her, but every second that went by and I didn't spot her was torture.

" _Ah, we'll figure out something or other, I'm sure." I grinned. "Your birthday's your birthday, after all."_

 _Koutarou sighed at me._

" _Somehow I think you're more excited about my own birthday than I am."_

" _Well, someone has to be." I teased._

" _Yes, well…." Koutarou sighed. "I suppose it isn't that much of a bad thing, is it? Are we going the right way to class?"_

" _Yes!" I skidded to a halt, and mock glared at him. "Well, I_ was _sure before you ."_

 _We stood and looked around for a moment. We were in a corridor lined with classrooms, some labelled, some unlabelled. It did seem familiar, and there were older students bustling into their own classrooms. It wasn't as if I knew every inch of the school after two weeks, but I was sure that by now I knew the route to our classroom._

" _Yes, we are going the right way. Jeez, Koutarou, could you not?"_

" _Okay, okay, Moyashi, sorry." Koutarou said. "Just making sure…"_

 _His voice trailed off, and I frowned at him. Annoyed as I was by the fact he'd made me doubt my knowledge for a moment, he did seem a little off, wincing slightly and occasionally rubbing his head._

" _Hey, are you alright?" I asked._

" _Fine, it's just a bit of a headache…"_

" _Should we detour to the medical room? Get some paracetamol or something? I think it's this way-oh!"_

 _As I spun back around to take us back the other way, my head whirled and I had to stop. Koutarou frowned, then winced and clutched his head_

" _Chieko?"_

" _I'm fine. But, my head too…."_

 _Both my voice and his sounded distant, and I knew something was wrong._ Right, medical room it is. _I took another step, but suddenly my legs wobbled, and I was losing my footing, and all the while the pain was increasing…_

" _Koutarou?" I asked, trying to look for him._ Was that…. _My vision blurred, and I couldn't see where he was anymore._

" _Koutarou?"_

 _I tried again, but I could barely hear myself, had no idea if I was even talking anymore. And then, as I tried to move again, I blacked out._

"No luck, I'm afraid."

I turned around at the sound of Akira's voice.

"No…luck?"

He shook his head, and at the same moment Masashi and Wakana came back again, also shaking their heads.

"We can't find her," Wakana shook her head. "Maybe we should start looking elsewhere?"

"Damn those fucking people," Masashi raged. "Couldn't they look where they were going?"

 _What now? What do I do now? She's probably going to be so scared?_ I turned my back on my friends, and desperately scanned the crowds again, hoping for even the slightest glimpse of a Hello Kitty mask, of a small figure in a pink _yukata_ , anything that would lead me to her. I noticed more people staring at me, but I couldn't bring myself to care about that.

"Shizuka!" I yelled again, my voice catching. "Shizuka!"

"Let's keep looking, Chieko-Chan," Wakana said soothingly. "She can't have gone far."

"But…"

"Excuse me, is your friend okay?"

This startled me, and I whipped back around to see an old lady in a white floral yukata addressing Tyson. I vaguely remembered her from when the others had been dancing, just moments before.

"She's lost her daughter, Ma'am." Tyson said politely. "She's only six, and not from this town."

"Oh, the sweet little girl who was with all of you?" she asked.

"That's right," I said. "Have you seen her at all? We got separated in a crowd…"

"Unfortunately, no," the old lady shook her head. "But have you tried the Lost and Found tent?"

The panic that had been rapidly bubbling up again seemed to freeze, and I stared at her, not fully comprehending.

"That's what it's for, isn't it?" She said. "If she hasn't already been taken there, then you can get an announcement made. She'll be with you again in no time."

 _It'll be that easy? I won't have lost her, too._

"Then…" I looked back at the others. "Which way is it? We need to go there, quickly!"

"I know where it is, I'll lead the way." Akira said, quickly. "Thank you."

"Not a problem." The old lady said.

She went one way, and we went to the other, walking as fast as our legs could carry us, practically almost running. Masashi and Wakana ended up either side of me, Akira and Tyson in front of us, and Hokuto and Noriko behind us. _They're all surrounding me,_ I observed almost absently as we headed to the tent. _Protecting me._

 _I just hope someone's looking after Shizuka too._

 **…**

When we got to the tent, the circle that they'd made around me dispersed, and I instantly scanned all the people in there. While there were a couple of lost children sitting in chairs and being soothed by a couple of the people whose outfits indicated they were working in the tent, Shizuka was not there.

 _Breathe, Chieko, breathe. You can ask._

I tried to remain as calm as possible as I headed to the small table that was doubling up as a desk. The young man sitting at it looked up, and looked to me and the others behind me a little uncertainly, before looking back at me.

"How can I help?"

"I need to make a lost child announcement."

"Sure." The man said, sitting up. "What's the child's name? How old are they? What do they look like?"

I answered the questions obligingly, and the man nodded, memorising it, but just as he was going to reach for the microphone to make an announcement, he suddenly paused, and looked over my shoulder. Curiously, I turned, but Masashi and Tyson were right behind me.

"Is that her?" the man asked.

Masashi and Tyson also stepped aside, and turned to where the man was indicating. There was a small child with two adults-a foreign bespectacled man, and a heavily pregnant Japanese woman-entering via another entrance and looking around. The little girl was Shizuka.

 _I opened my eyes, slowly, wondering why it was dark._ Maybe I'm still woozy _, I thought as I rubbed my eyes and looked around me. I seemed to be in a classroom, and for some reason, I was at the teacher's desk. There was a piece of paper which, at a glance, had my name on it, so I picked it up. The movement didn't make my head spin or anything like that, which was a relief, but this was still confusing._

" _Is this Hope's Peak?" I wondered aloud._

 _This place looked like a Hope Peaks' classroom, sure, but it also looked like any old classroom in any old high school. Well, except for the metal plates on the windows, which meant I couldn't look outside to see if it looked like Hope's Peak in here._

" _And…." I was going to speculate aloud, but then it hit me. "Koutarou! Koutarou?"_

 _I shot out of the chair and looked around wildly, panic rising in me and then subsiding just as quickly when I realised he was sitting at one of the student desks, slumped over, apparently asleep. I rushed over to him, and he stirred._

" _Koutarou? Are you okay, are you hurt? What happened to you?"_

" _Moyashi?" Koutarou blinked, rubbing his eyes. "I had a headache, and you asked if I wanted to go to the medical room…and then what happened? I can't really remember."_

" _Well, I started to get a headache too, and I was going to turn around to do that, and then I blacked out. Did you?"_

" _Yeah…" Koutarou nodded. "Yeah, I remember blackin' out too. Where are we, anyway?"_

For a moment, I thought my knees were going to give out through sheer relief. The panic was over, finally.

"Shizuka!" I called, managing to keep straight.

The tent was pretty busy, but she seemed to hear, and looked over.

"Mummy!"

Though she'd been looking fearful and hesitant when she came in, now she broke away from the two adults and came barrelling over to me as fast as she could. I bent down and hugged her, tightly.

"Mummy." She repeated again.

"It's okay, I've found you now." I told her.

I hugged her for a moment longer, then let go of her and held her by the shoulders, examining her carefully. Her face was slightly tear-stained (she was now wearing the mask on top of her head, like a hat or a headband), but apart from that she looked none the worse for wear.

"Are you okay?" I asked her. "You didn't get hurt?"

She shook her head.

"It got crowded and then I couldn't see you anymore, and I was scared, but the nice man and lady found me and told me we could find you, and then we did so I'm not scared anymore." Shizuka told me. She then hesitated for a moment.

"Sorry, Mummy." She said after that moment's pause. "I didn't hold onto your hand properly, even though you told me to."

"No, it wasn't your fault, it was too crowded." I said. "What matters is that you are safe."

Shizuka hugged me again at that, and after a moment, I decided to carry her. Standing up, and adjusting my hold on her, I turned my attention to the two who had found her, only to realise that they were now in conversation with the others.

"No, you're right, but I supposed that I had to at least try." Tyson was saying.

"Yeah, I know…" the man-speaking in fluent Japanese with a very slight accent-paused to sigh, and gave a soft smile. "And actually, we do like it. Mum's got it up in the living room, actually. So thanks."

"You are a very good artist." The woman acknowledged with a nod.

"Erm…."

"This is Benjamin Cain-Ben," Tyson explained. "And his fiancée, Sayuri Oda."

"Cain….oh! Erica-Chan's little brother. I'm-"

"I know who you are." Ben said abruptly, before pausing and then shaking his head. "I apologise, that's ruder than I meant it to be. But yeah, all things considered, I don't really need to be introduced to you all."

"Ah, well. In any case, thank you so much for looking after Shizuka." I told them. "It means a lot to me, really."

"It's not a problem." Sayuri said. "I can understand. Once this one's born, I'll probably go out of my mind if I lose sight of her."

I studied Sayuri carefully. She looked a bit tired, sure, but apart from that she looked like she was really enjoying pregnancy. I barely remembered mine-or rather, I did remember, but I had just been trying so hard to get from day to day I had not experienced it, as such. Sure, I remembered the sensations of a changing body, and how Dad would remind me I had to keep up my strength for the baby, and things like that, but it was all just another facet of the struggle that those months had been. I had not been glowing, or radiant, or anything along those lines, no matter what other people had said. It was what it was, and I always figured that was counted was how I was with Shizuka in the here and now, and even Dr Yamamoto would tell me that the fact I hadn't been the average mother-to-be was nothing to be ashamed of, but sometimes I wished I'd had the same sorts of experiences and feelings that this woman was undoubtedly going through now.

"If you don't mind me asking, when are you due?" I asked.

"October," she stated. "We're looking forward to it. Though we're getting married in December, so it's going to be chaotic."

"I can imagine." I said. "Good luck with everything."

It was the truth-I _could_ imagine it, at the very least.

"Thank you." Sayuri said, before promptly yawning.

"We should really be getting home now." Ben said, putting an arm around Sayuri. "We were heading home in the first place. But anyway, stay safe."

"You too." I said. "Thanks again."

"Bye-bye!" Shizuka said.

Ben gave a quick, brisk nod, and Sayuri smiled at us, and then they turned and left the way they came.

"Sorry for the trouble." I said, turning to the young man at the desk.

"No, no, it's fine. Enjoy the rest of your night."

"We will."

 **…**

 _Masashi_

Since the original plan had been to find something to eat, that's what we decided to do, finding a stall selling _taiyaki_ and other sweet snacks, and then, once we'd finished those, looking for a good spot to watch the fireworks displays from, only to get distracted by a stall selling shaved ice. Chieko had been carrying Shizuka pretty much the entire time since we'd found her, but did end up putting her down when it became clear that juggling a small person and a cup of ice wasn't exactly feasible. But she was reluctant to do so, and I could hardly judge. My own heart had been in my mouth when Shizuka had been separated from us, and I wasn't even her parent or anything like that. Even Shizuka didn't seem to want to be let go of, instantly clinging to Chieko's leg the moment she was let down.

"Hey, there's a bench just there!" Noriko pointed out as Chieko tried to get Shizuka to pick a flavour and the rest of us thought about what we were going to pick. "And it's empty."

I looked over to the bench, and realised it was right.

"Yeah, let's sit there."

"How about some of us go and 'save' it, and the rest of us order?" Hokuto suggested. "I don't even mind doing it myself-I'm an expert at juggling food items."

"No, no, I'll help." Wakana said.

"I'll come too." Noriko exclaimed.

"Can I help too?"

We all turned in surprise at the sound of Shizuka's tiny voice. Chieko looked the most surprised.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Shizuka hesitated for a moment, and then nodded firmly, though her expression was still a little afraid. Chieko also hesitated, looking around carefully before sighing.

"Alright, you can go."

Shizuka gave a small smile, then grabbed ahold of Wakana's hand. Once we'd decided on the flavours we wanted, the three of them went to the stall, while the rest of us went to the bench and sat on it. Just as I was sitting down, I saw a glimpse of a black-haired woman. Perfectly ordinary looking, in street clothes, most of her back turned to me, disappearing quickly into the distant crowds. But still, I couldn't help but wonder: _Hikari?_

 _Oh, pull yourself together,_ I scolded myself. _No use getting worked up over a tiny thing that more than likely means nothing. Not everyone can be as lucky as Nanto-tan._

But even as I thought that, I couldn't help but wonder a little. But I wasn't about to dramatically run after someone who I couldn't even see anymore, so instead, I pulled out my phone and texted Kazuki.

 _Have you heard of any recent sightings of Hikari? Like locally?_

 _No,_ Kazuki replied almost instantly. _Not that I know of. Why?_

 _I saw someone that reminded me of her,_ I replied after many attempts at wording it in a way that didn't make me sound totally mad. _So I just wondered._

 _Hmmmm. Well, when I'm back in work I'll see what I can find out._

 _Yeah, that's fine._

I sighed, and put my phone away, and it was at that moment the girls and Shizuka came back with the shaved ice. We all scooted over on the bench to make room for them, and the ices were passed around, and we spent some time eating them, swapping flavours-Noriko's banana flavoured one was absolutely revolting, as was Akira's green tea one, but Shizuka's strawberry, Wakana's raspberry and Hokuto's blueberry flavoured one weren't that bad, and Tyson's orange flavour one was okay too.

"Do you want to try mine?" Chieko asked me after she'd swapped spoonfuls with Hokuto.

"Sure." I said instantly. "What was yours again? And do you want some of mine? It's melon."

"Peach." She said, holding her cup out with one hand. "And sure, melon sounds interesting."

"Go right ahead then." I said, holding my cup out.

Chieko scooped a small amount out and tipped it into my cup, and I did the same for her. Then, at pretty much the same time, we each tried it. I watched her, carefully, hoping I wasn't blushing or being creepy as I also tried a bit of her flavour.

"Hmm," she said once she'd swallowed. "It's alright."

"Ehh, it's okay if it's not your thing." I said, shrugging. "But your flavour, on the other hand…well, I wish I'd picked that instead."

Which was actually true-the peach did taste really good-though I was possibly laying it on a little thick. But it was enough to make Chieko smile.

"Oh, you."

I grinned, but inside I was melting. _I'm such a sap,_ I thought, though I'd established that ages ago. If it wasn't for the fact we were all squashed up together, now would have been the perfect moment. _Oh well, there's still time._

When we had finished, Chieko didn't carry Shizuka again. Instead, she held onto her hand tightly. Akira made to lead the way, and I looked over at the others. _Let's protect them,_ I attempted to say with my eyes, but it didn't seem to go through, because Hokuto and Noriko just gave me blank looks, and the others didn't notice. I huffed in annoyance, and then fell in step on Shizuka's other side-but then I noticed Wakana going to Chieko's other side, and the others remained behind us, and I realised that we were doing so anyway.

 _Silly me, how could I not know that this was instinct after all?_

 **…**

To view the fireworks, we were standing at the top of an grassy place that was sort of a hill but not quite, a fence marking out its boundary. We were right near the fence-Hokuto and Noriko were actually leaning right against it to stare at the colours and shapes of the fireworks as they burst and sparkled and glittered. I was next to them, with Chieko and Shizuka right next to me in turn, and then Wakana, Akira and Tyson were a little apart, though near to Chieko. We weren't alone in the area, obviously-there were other festival goers lingering lower down the hill and others at further points near to the fence, which was pretty long-but this particular section we were in seemed to almost be ours alone.

It was perfect.

"Mummy, Masa-san, did you see the pink ones?!" Shizuka exclaimed, stretching her hands out to them.

"Yeah, we saw them." Chieko told her.

"They're soo pretty."

"Hafta agree with that." I said wryly, watching some silver whizzing ones that looked like shooting stars mingle with gold star bursts. _I wonder if those count as stars too, to make a wish on._

Those ones soon faded, replaced immediately by yet more fireworks. Watching Shizuka jumping in excitement and still holding her hands out to the fireworks, I knelt down.

"Hey, Shizuka-tan, want me to carry you?" I asked. "You might be able to reach them easier if you're higher up."

"Yes please!"

"Okay then. Up we go-oof."

Feeling myself creak slightly, I carried her and turned back to the firework display. Shizuka held her hand out towards the sky, and closed her hand 'around' a purplish-blue starburst. She burst into giggles immediately.

"Look, it looks like I caught it!" she said gleefully.

"Yeah, you sure did."

Chieko looked towards us at that moment, and gave us a soft smile. I grinned back as Shizuka continued to giggle. _Damn, this really does feel like family._

Time went by. Akira joined Hokuto and Noriko, the latter of whom had climbed onto the first slat of the fence and was leaning against it, as if to reach the sky better. Wakana and Tyson remained standing together, and the next time I glanced at them, they were holding hands, to which I raised an eyebrow and decided to think no more of. And then, eventually, I felt Shizuka getting sleepy, and heard her yawn.

"Are you tired, Shizuka?"

I turned at the sound of Chieko's voice, and then looked at Shizuka, who seemed to be drooping. She opened her mouth to answer, but instead yawned. Chieko sighed.

"Here," she said to me. "Hand her over to me."

"Ah, yeah, sure."

I did so, and in the process our arms touched, and as cheesy as it sounds I could have sworn I felt a spark, or something. But Chieko didn't notice anything, instead taking Shizuka from me easily, and focusing adjusting her hold on her so that her little head was resting against her shoulder. It did not take long for Shizuka to fall asleep after that.

 _Could this be it? The moment?_

"It's a long night for her, huh?" I said, sympathetically, not sure I could commit to it.

"Yeah, "Chieko said. "It has been."

I looked up at the sky for a while, and then eventually, my gaze came back to Chieko. She was looking up at the display, rapt as she held the sleeping Shizuka. _This is the moment, isn't it?_ The others were a small distance away, we had the best view, this was the perfect moment.

 _Just do it, Masa. It's now, or never._

"Hey, Akamine-tan?"

"Hmm, what is it?"

She turned her head slightly to indicate she had heard me, but remained looking up at the fireworks. There was something beautiful about the way she looked in that moment. She was always beautiful, but this moment, _this_ particular moment. If I didn't say it now, I'd lose it forever. So, I took a deep breath, and:

"I love you."

* * *

 **And now here we have it, the moment I suspect many of you had been waiting for. How will it turn out? You'll just have to wait and see. :)**


	66. Scraps of the Past 14

**This Scraps chapter was originally scheduled for this week's regular update (or rather, the chapter number I randomly assigned it at the time of writing made it so), but for various personal reasons I decided to put it up today. There will be a regular update at the regular sort of time though, so look forward to that. I am also thinking of making a couple of the other Scraps (and/or perhaps the final Killer Moments) be bonus mid-week updates in the same way this one has become, but I guess that'll be decided when I get to that point.**

 **Replies to guest reviews:**

 **Ochuu: WE ARE ALL ROOTING FOR MASA! Look out for this week's regular update to find out how it goes. And thanks for the review!**

* * *

The shots kept coming and coming, and Hikari Kita wondered when they were going to stop. Today hadn't exactly been an ordinary day-she was off school because rioters had broken into her school the night before and made it uninhabitable, for one thing-but sitting in the living room in complete darkness with her father was possibly one of the weirdest things she'd ever done. _Weird? Who am I kidding, this is terrifying._

She wondered what was going on outside, exactly. _Asides from the obvious, of course._ Were her mother and brothers safe? Much earlier that morning, just after breakfast, she'd been scrolling through the news on the family computer and had seen something about Hope's Peak being taken hostage, so now she was worried about Masashi. Kazuki was also in school, but she hadn't heard anything from him before they'd shut everything off, and her mother had gone into work to deal with a crisis. But apart from useless adjectives such as terrifying, confusing, disastrous, she had no way of understanding what was going on. _God, why couldn't school have been called off because of a heating malfunction or flooding or an infestation of rats or something more_ normal _? Why this?_

She stared at her father, who was looking straight ahead at the room door, Kazuki's old cricket bat in his hands, then looked around her, at the living room she saw every day, with its cream sofas and red carpets, coffee table piled with precariously balancing magazines, the television and the game console, family photos and Masashi's Hope's Peak invitation on the walls, and the thick floral pattern curtains pulled so as to hide all of that from the outside world. After an hour revising German she'd been thinking of playing a video game when the shots had sounded and her father had told her to shut off the lights and everything else. A part of her hoped that the noises would die down soon, that it would then be okay to do that. To do just what she had planned, as if this was a normal day.

And then there was the banging at the door.

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_ Even though she was still, Hikari felt herself freeze. _That's not…it can't be._ But sure enough, the noise was coming from their own front door.

"Dad…? What…..?" she whispered.

Her father turned to her, gave her a serious look.

"Hide." He said, simply.

 _Hide? What? Where?_ The protests bubbled up inside her, but she obediently got up as her father left the living room and approached the front door, bat at the ready. She supposed that he was hoping to take whoever was banging by surprise. Part of her wanted to see the moment, but instead, she scanned the living room, trying to figure out what would be an obvious place to hide, when the door exploded.

Freaking out, Hikari dove behind the television, crouching uncomfortably atop plugs and wires. _At least I won't get electrocuted…._ she thought wryly to herself, wishing she could find it funny. From this space, she couldn't see anything, but she heard the door swinging on its hinges, heavy footsteps, the sound of the bat making contact with bone and flesh. Whoever her father had hit let out a yell, and then she heard her father gasp before….

 _BANG! BANG!_

And soon after that, the sound of something hitting the ground.

Hikari clamped her hands over her mouth, tried to muffle the noise threatening to rip out of her as suddenly, she started to tremble. _No. No._ Shaking uncontrollably, she waited for something-shouts, the bat swinging again, some trace of a scuffle, but nothing came. And though she couldn't see anything from here, she knew what that meant. _No…Dad._ But before she could process that, she heard the sound of footsteps coming into the living room, slow and methodical. They paused for a second before they came closer to her. _Wait…oh, oh god, oh no._

Without thinking about it, she leapt up, grabbed the stupid old ornament her mother kept on top of the television as a decoration, and threw it at him. It hit the side of the person's mask, and fell down and shattered loudly. She then took his momentary distraction to dart back around the television, pausing only to pick up the game console and throw it directly at his middle just as he started to turn back to her, making him lose his balance. In a moment of inspiration, she scooped up the controls and a few games cases, and threw them at him, all of them unbalancing him further until finally he fell, the console and the controls pinning him down. The mask audibly cracked, though it did not come, and the smoking gun the man had been holding flew out of his hand and skidded across the living room floor. _I could use that…but…._ she didn't want to risk passing the man to go get it, so she just ran. Out of the living room, out of the house. Past her father's body, which she could barely look at. _Sorry, Dad._

With no way of knowing if the man was conscious or how quickly he'd manage to get up if he was, Hikari ran straight to the garage, pushing the door open and heading straight for her bike. Despite the fact she'd only gone biking last week-when life had still been normal despite everything going on-it was buried under random junk. _Oh, goddammit, not now!_ Heart racing and palms slick, she swore all the different swear words she'd picked up off of Masashi as she pulled some items off and attempted to free her bike. Eventually, with a cry, she yanked it out, and carried it out of the garage, and as soon as she could put it down, she hopped on it, and pedalled, pedalled, pedalled.

She did not look back.

* * *

 **And now you all know a thing or two about how Hikari Kita came to be missing. Where she is now...all in due time, my wonderful readers, all in due time. I hope you enjoyed the chapter though!**

 ** **Also, two song recommendations for this week! 'A Bouquet of Marine Snow' by After the Rain, and 'Juggernaut' by Natsushiro Takaaki. The PV of the former one is visual heaven, and the latter has apparently become my auditory stim of the moment.****


	67. The Confession

_Masashi_

"I love you."

The words seemed to hang in the air in the moments after I said them. I could almost see them, felt sure that if I reached out I would touch something solid. But yet, for those moments, Chieko didn't seem to react, and I wondered if maybe they weren't as tangible as I'd thought, if perhaps they had been swallowed in the noise and colour of our surroundings. Or worse, if I'd only thought I'd said them, and they were still just rattling around in my head.

But then, mercifully, she turned fully, so she was looking at me properly.

"You…love…me?" she said slowly, each syllable uncertain, as if she were trying a new language.

"Yeah." I said, simply.

Chieko frowned, regarding me quizzically for a moment, before suddenly; there was a tiny moment of comprehension.

"Oh. This is a confession." She said, only to frown in confusion once again. "But…why?"

 _Why do people usually confess,_ I found myself snarking in my brain, even though it wasn't fair. She looked completely and utterly pole-axed, and why wouldn't she be? With the exception of Hokuto, I had been fairly careful about keeping my feelings under wraps until now.

"Don't worry, I'm utterly serious. I don't make confessions lightly, you know!"

I tried to make my bad attempt at lightening things as, well, as light as possible, but Chieko still frowned. She looked briefly to Shizuka-still asleep-and then back at me.

"No, I mean, _why_? Why are you in love with _me_?"

 _What do I say to that? More to the point, where would I even start?_ I opened my mouth, then closed it again, and then once again opened it to answer.

"Do you need a reason?"

"Not exactly…" Chieko started. "But, I don't think I understand. I'm not special or anything."

"You _are_." I said automatically, vehemently. "You are special. You…you're amazing. You're…"

… _Beautiful, inside and out. Brave, resilient, you've made it through hell and back. Admirable, for what you managed to do back then. So determined, and committed to the life you're making. And so kind, and good, and just who you are in general. Amazing. You were always cute, but yeah, I've gone beyond that thought now. I love you._ Somehow, all those thoughts were packed into the few sentences I managed to say, but I could not actually say those thoughts. Perhaps this was enough for now, at least. I didn't want to scare her away.

Chieko studied me for a moment, then turned slightly away. Her arms wrapped a little more protectively around Shizuka.

"Besides, I have Shizuka to think about."

"I know. I love that about you too." I said.

Chieko frowned at me.

"That sounded weird, didn't it? I promise, I didn't mean it in a weird way!" I said. "Just, that I know that you two are a package deal, and that's something I've always been fine with."

Chieko's frown softened slightly, but didn't completely ease up, and she didn't say anything as she studied me. I took that as an invitation to continue.

"I mean, I'm a bit biased anyway, because she's yours and that's enough to make me inclined to at least try to like her. But I've met her now, and I do genuinely care for her. She's one hell of a kid, seriously. And the fact I love you, it's not just that I'm attracted to you, but I want to be a meaningful part of your life. And since Shizuka-tan is a part of your life too, I'd want to be a meaningful part of her life, too. Not to mention…that's part of what makes you special, or at least one of the parts anyway. "

"Oh." She blinked, sighed. "You always seem so determined to believe the best of me. I guess this is why, then?"

"I suppose?" Now it was my turn to blink. "Maybe, I dunno. I've loved you long enough that there's a huge tangled mess of reasons for it."

"You've….had these feelings for a long time? How long?"

"A while, at least. Since around when we escaped."

I hadn't thought Chieko could look any more stunned than she had done since this entire exchange started, but she did now.

"Since then? But you never said anything?"

"A lot was happening then, wasn't it?" I shrugged. "With the both of us. And then you were busy with Shizuka as a baby, and I was getting my life together. Then I was worried about overwhelming you, and I could never find the right way of putting it in a message or call or whatever, and well, time flies. I think, if this reunion hadn't happened, I might have stayed quiet forever, but, well, you know, I thought that you deserved to know, at least. And I wanted it out there. So I made the right decision for me, but…"

"That makes sense. And that's fine….I, just….." Chieko bit her lip. "Do you need an answer? An immediate one."

"Oh, gosh, no, no." I shook my head. "I just wanted to tell you."

"Okay. I'll give you some sort of answer eventually, you deserve that much." Chieko sighed. "But…I need to think about it."

"No, that's fine."

In truth, it was more than I could have hoped for. I'd been gearing up for a clear-cut rejection, and so this was a relief. Letting out a sigh, I turned to look back at the fireworks, still going strong. _Still, at least now-_

"And, Kita-kun?"

I turned back curiously to see Chieko still gazing at me, intense and unreadable expression on her face. When our eyes met, it softened slightly, into something that was a sort of smile, but not quite.

"Either way, thank you."

 **…**

 _Chieko_

My mind was whirling _. Kita-kun confessed to me. Me._ It wasn't a difficult concept, but yet, I couldn't get my head around it. I couldn't understand it, couldn't understand why he would fall in love with me, of all the people. I'd never had time for romance in any form, not really. In middle and high school before Hope's Peak, I'd been aware that some might have considered me attractive, but there were girls who were far more fitting of such a label there, and I'd certainly never received any love letters in my locker or been asked to meet a blushing boy in shady corners of the grounds. Even if I had, I was busy with juggling school and gardening and everything else, I probably wouldn't have had the time for it.

Then there was the killing game, what had happened there. In some way, that was the closest thing to romance I'd had, but I couldn't count it as that, because I'd never had the chance to figure it out with Koutarou. Perhaps things might have been different, if we'd talked even a little of it. But things had happened how they had happened, and immediately after the game, I barely had the head-space for much beyond keeping myself together, and then grappling with being a new parent. Romance wasn't even on the list of everything that came after that.

I'd received confessions a few times the two years I'd worked at the coffee shop, but they'd all been superficial-people passing phone numbers along with their money, semi-subtle questions about whether I was free after work and if I'd be interested in a date, compliments about my appearance, things like that. I pretty much just shut it all down as soon as it came up-I just didn't have the interest, I couldn't be bothered. None of them had been serious, anyway, so it was not as if I owed them anything for it.

And then once I started university, I didn't really talk to any males on my course, so I had no idea if any of them might have had an interest in me, and I would have rejected anything on the basis of being busy. Besides, I'd swung back to being far too busy to care about such things.

But I had never had someone say they loved me, properly loved me. Someone who had known me for a long time, through all sorts of ups and downs, and meant it as seriously. I'd never expected to have that, and now all of a sudden here I was, being faced with exactly that kind of confession.

 _And I don't know what to do._

I still didn't really have an interest in romance, no desire to be in love or in a relationship. That in itself was enough reason to have just rejected the confession, the way I had done with any other I received. Yet, I hadn't.

I heard Shizuka yawn and stir, and I looked down at her.

"Mummy?" she asked sleepily. "Are there still fireworks?"

"Yes, there are." I replied. "Are you tired?"

"Mhmm." Shizuka murmured, looking up sleepily at the sky, still exploding in colour.

"Well, I think we'll go home soon…" I said.

Though I knew full well he was still next to me, I looked over to check where Masashi was, seeing him looking up at the fireworks. Not wanting him to notice I was looking, I turned away and looked around for the others, only to notice that Akira was coming to me.

"Are you ready to go back?" he asked. "I think we've been out long enough, and the others don't mind either way."

"I was just about to come and ask you if we could, actually. Shizuka's getting sleepy."

As if to back up my point, Shizuka chose that moment to yawn and snuggle against me more. Akira nodded.

"Got it."

He went over to Masashi, and spoke to him, and then went to gather the others, and then we left, the fireworks still continuing above us.

…

Shizuka had practically dropped back off to sleep by the time we got back, and though she was awake enough to let me help her change into her pyjamas, she was in no state to brush her teeth, so I decided to leave it be, though I did make sure her hands and face were washed, at the very least. In between dealing with Shizuka, I also had to help Wakana undo her obi, and only after all that could I brush my teeth, change and climb into bed, so I was sufficiently distracted from thoughts of love until my head actually hit the pillow and I closed my eyes. Then, they came back with a vengeance, holding off any possibility of sleep.

 _Why didn't I just say no? It's not as if I return the feelings. Not the sort of feelings he holds._

Over and over, I replayed that moment. Masashi asking for me, half-turning and only expecting a casual question or quip, only to be hit with the weightiest _I love you_ I'd ever heard. _I love you,_ he had said, meaning it so completely, even loving the things that would be considered barriers to some. He _knew_ me, knew what my life entailed, and yet he'd still been able to say that and mean it. I thought I'd known him, as a friend and a classmate and all of that, but I would have never been able to predict that he had those sort of feelings for me.

 _Well, isn't that why,_ I asked myself. _It's serious, and from a friend. Of course I cannot dismiss it as easily as a phone number on a scrap of paper or a flirty comment over a counter. Not when it's something like this._

"But," I mouthed to myself. "What do I say to him?"

I so badly wanted to ask someone, and turned over to see if Wakana was awake. But she wasn't, and so I turned back again, and sighed. _What am I supposed to say? It has to be a proper answer, I owe him that much, at least._ My mind ran through all the small kindnesses he'd shown me, the way he was always so eager to see the best in me, to defend me. And how easy he'd been with Shizuka, how well he treated her. She adored him, too, which I could hardly ignore. I was fairly sure he wasn't lying or just trying to suck up to me in saying that he accepted that it was _us_ he wanted to share a life with rather than me alone. I was sure he meant it. And because he did, I couldn't fob him off with some standard, cookie-cutter rejection.

 _But….why does it have to be a full-out rejection?_

I blinked, wondering where that thought had come from. What else would I be doing, in the end? Then again…now that I'd been confessed to, there was a part of me that wondered what it'd be like, to have been someone who got proper confessions, who occasionally went on a date, even if it led to nothing in particular. If I did want to do something like that, wouldn't be better with a friend?

 _After all, wasn't I grateful, that my first time was with Koutarou?_

"Enough."

I whispered it this time, annoyed at myself. What I'd had with Koutarou had _nothing_ to do with this. Nothing. How could it, when it had been something I'd never been able to name and the thing that was confronting me now was an easily-defined love? I just had to really think about this confession as it stood now, consider my reasons carefully based on the here and now, and then give Masashi a proper answer.

That was the only right thing to do.

* * *

 **Chieko's section of the chapter is kinda a mess, then again she's kind of a mess at the moment, so I suppose that makes a certain kind of sense lol. Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	68. This New, Uncertain Future

_Chieko_

I did end up falling asleep eventually, though only from the exhaustion that can only come with a mind in turmoil. Yet, when I woke up to another bright morning, I didn't feel as heavy as I'd been expecting. Sure, the thoughts had come rushing back almost the moment I opened my eyes, but yet I felt…alright.

 _This is weird. Still, I guess I should count it as a blessing, shouldn't I?_

I sat up, noticing that the sun was streaming brightly through the curtains, and that Wakana was already up. _Oh? What time is it?_ I went to open the curtains, then checked to see what the time was.

"Nearly 10:00?" I muttered to myself in disbelief.

"Mummy?"

I spun around rapidly to see that Shizuka was sitting up in her sleeping bag, rubbing her eyes. _I let us sleep for that long? Maybe that explains why I feel so rested…_ I sighed, and put a smile on her face.

"Morning, sleepyhead. Let's get ourselves sorted and see what to do about breakfast."

"Okay."

Shizuka wriggled out of the sleeping bag, and just as we left the room, Wakana came into view at the top of the stairs.

"Oh, you're awake. I was just coming to see if you guys were, to say that there's breakfast."

"Oh, okay, thanks." I replied. "Is everyone else awake, then?"

"No, Ho-Chi and Kita-Chan are still having a lie in, and Noriko only woke up about half an hour ago I think. The rest of us just woke up early though."

I nodded at that. That made me feel a little better-Wakana, Tyson and Akira seemed predisposed to waking up early. I would have ordinarily included Hokuto in such a list, so that surprised me, but I wasn't unduly bothered by that.

"I'll let you get on," Wakana said suddenly. "I'm just going to check the others are awake."

"Sure."

Wakana went to do that, and we went to the bathroom to brush our teeth and wash our faces, and then I got Shizuka dressed and sent her downstairs, before getting myself dressed and my hair brushed and tied in its usual low ponytail. _If Kita-kun's still asleep, I guess I won't have to face him right away…._ I sighed, and wandered to the window. _I still don't have an answer….how long should I be taking, to have an answer?_

Turning back, I went to get my medication, where I'd kept it so that Shizuka wouldn't get to it and that the others wouldn't see, and regarded the bottle. There was enough for today, tomorrow and the morning we were leaving. It was just as I expected and had planned for, but still, looking at the bottle, it struck me. _Only that long left? How did it all go by so fast? It's going to be so sad to leave them._

"But, there's still today and tomorrow." I told myself aloud. "Make the most of it."

 _Make the most of it._

I unscrewed the bottle, took what I needed for today, then put it back carefully and got up and headed downstairs.

 **…**

"Morning." I said when I got downstairs.

Shizuka was sitting at the table tucking in to breakfast, and Noriko, Wakana and Tyson were sitting with her, while Akira did washing up.

"Good morning, Chieko-Chan. Did you sleep well?" Wakana asked.

"Yes, I did." _Surprisingly._ "You?"

"Yeah." Wakana replied, seeming fairly surprised herself. "Anyway, breakfast's here."

She gestured to a covered plate waiting for me at the seat next to Shizuka's. There were two more, waiting for Hokuto and Masashi.

"Thanks."

I sat down, and I tucked in. A few moments later, Hokuto came down.

"Oh hey, you even left breakfast for us! Awesome, thanks!" she exclaimed as she sat down and tucked in.

"No problem." Tyson replied.

"I thought you were supposed to be used to waking up early." Noriko said to Hokuto, teasingly.

"I am!" Hokuto protested through a mouthful, pausing to swallow before continuing. "But I'm entitled to a lie-in every so often, right?"

"Well, sure." Noriko said.

Hokuto gave her a mock glare, and continued eating. Akira came to join us a few moments later, and we chatted a while, the conversation eventually turning to what we were going to do for the last two days.

"I was thinking we could all eat out, either tonight or tomorrow night, somewhere special as a sort of commemoration of our time together." Akira said.

"That's a good idea," Hokuto agreed. "Though, I think it's been established none of us have come particularly equipped for fancy restaurants."

"Yes, that's true. But I don't mean anywhere particularly posh, just somewhere that's nice enough for it to feel like a special kind of thing. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I do," I agreed. "That sounds like a nice idea."

"It does sound like a nice idea," Wakana said. "But it might be nice to just be here all together and do something special."

"But we had takeaway on the first night, what's special about doing that again?" Noriko asked.

"Well, we don't necessarily have to do a takeaway." Wakana mused.

"Then what?" Hokuto asked. "It's either restaurant, takeaway, or just cooking an ordinary meal and eating it all together. And much as it's awesome hanging and eating with you guys, just having dinner around the table doesn't seem the way to go if we're aiming to end this trip with a bang."

"Yes, that's true." Akira absently tapped his finger against the table. "So, then, what should we do?"

"If we were to stay home, why don't we eat outside?" Tyson suggested. "In the garden."

"Ooooh." Noriko said.

"A picnic!" Shizuka exclaimed suddenly.

We all stared at her, and she stared at us, looking incredulous.

"When you eat outdoors in the garden, it's a picnic. Don't you know that?"

"A picnic." Hokuto exclaimed. "Of course! You could set it up all proper with a blanket and everything."

"Almost everything. I'd imagine having a wicker basket to put all the supplies in may be a bit excessive for the back garden." Tyson commented wryly. "But yes, a picnic is a splendid idea."

"What's a splendid idea?"

Masashi came in at this point, rubbing sleep from his eyes but otherwise seeming fine. _What are you thinking,_ I wondered.

"A picnic." Akira told him. "Also, here's your breakfast…sleepyhead."

"Masa-san!" Shizuka said delightedly.

"Hey there, Shizuka-tan." Masashi said cheerfully, before narrowing his eyes at Akira and pointing mock-angrily.

"Oi, less with that, I know you're an early bird but I'm only human. Thanks though. Care to elaborate on the picnic?"

"We're debating whether to enjoy our last two days together with a picnic or with a restaurant excursion." Akira explained.

He then went on to summarise what we'd all been talking about. Masashi nodded and frowned through the explanation, and then thought about it for a moment.

"Well, why not both?" he asked eventually.

"Both?" Akira and Hokuto echoed.

"Two more nights, right?" he said. "So, why not tonight the restaurant, and tomorrow night the picnic, or the other way around?"

We all looked at each other. It seemed pretty obvious now it was spelt out-it didn't have to be one or the other, not when we could easily have both. _And now we can make more kinds of new memories to go with the ones we've already made._

"I agree." I said, looking hesitantly over at Masashi. "I think having it like that makes the most sense. And plus, that keeps all of us happy, right?"

Masashi grinned at me broadly, and I felt something strange in my chest. I tried to ignore it, hoping that my confused thoughts weren't showing on the surface. Nobody seemed to notice them, in any case, but still. _They feel so visible, how can they not be?_ Masashi, on the other hand, I couldn't detect any sort of turmoil of confusion or anything. You'd never know that anything significant had happened the night before, just from looking. _But maybe it's different for the confessor, than it is for the one confessed to._

"Yes, that works, I think." Akira said. "Is everyone else happy with that?"

"Yeah." Hokuto said.

"Of course." Wakana and Tyson said almost in unison, causing them both to stare at each other in surprise before chuckling quietly.

"Yeah! So, what about now?" Noriko asked, changing the subject. "What're we all going to do now, once us late guys finish eating?"

"I was thinking of doing some of my packing, actually, with Shizuka." I said.

"Aww, but Mummy, I wanted to play outside."

"You can still do that, but help me with a little of the packing, okay? There is a lot to do, I can't do it by myself."

"Hmmm…" Shizuka frowned.

"Not all of it. If you do some packing for me now, then you can play the rest of the time."

This, apparently, was more than enough to seal the deal for Shizuka.

"Okay!"

"Packing?" Hokuto asked, a little incredulous as I spoke to Shizuka. "Why not just do all that tomorrow?"

"Well, it would be nice to spend as much of the day as possible just being with you all instead of packing, especially since I leave first that morning, with Wakana." Tyson said. "So I might do some of my packing now as well."

"I will, too. Though not now." Wakana added.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Noriko said. "Though I just feel like doing something a little more relaxed now, so maybe after lunch."

"Lunch?!" Masashi spluttered. "Look what time it is!"

"We still have to have lunch, don't we?" Noriko retorted.

"We can always see how we feel when it gets to a lunch sort of time, can't we?" Tyson pointed out, calming both of them down.

"Anyway, yeah, I'm just thought I might a bit of time by doing some of it now." I explained.

"Makes sense to me." Masashi shrugged. "Anyway, Akira-tan, did you have a particular restaurant in mind?"

"A few possibilities, and I'm going to ring around to see about reserving a table, since that'd be easier."

"Cool. I have a couple of ideas, let's compare when I've finished eating. And I'll wash this lot too." Masashi decided, gesturing at the plates-mine and Shizuka's empty, Noriko's almost so, and Masashi.

"And perhaps those of us who aren't doing anything could have a card game or board game?" Tyson suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Hokuto said.

"Seems like we're all sorted then, huh?" Noriko said.

"It sure seems like it." Wakana smiled.

Tyson changed the subject again, and Masashi started a conversation with Shizuka, and I watched them, thinking. Trying once again to disentangle my feelings and come up with an answer.

 _Because_ I _won't be all sorted if I can't even do that._

 **…**

Despite her initial protests, Shizuka worked hard at helping me to pack, and seemed to actually really get into it for a while. But after a while, her patience did seem to clearly be flagging, so I sent her downstairs to play and continued on by myself. Which ended up being for the best, because it gave me more time to think about last night, and the answer I needed to come up with. I examined that simple _I love you,_ and the words that had followed, from every angle that I could think of, and then more yet again. But still, I wasn't sure.

 _It's a good thing,_ I was sure of that much. _It's confusing for me, and hard to make a decision about. But, I'm glad that he said it to me, that I know that I am loved. And perhaps, I'm glad that this time, there is an opportunity to talk about feelings, and what they mean for the future. But…_

A knocking on the door interrupted my thoughts, and I looked over at it, startled.

"Come in!" I called out.

The door opened slightly, and Masashi peered around. He looked a little cautious, hesitant, the first sign that perhaps he'd had it on his mind too.

"Hey, how's the packing going?" he asked.

"It's fine," I said. "I did more than I expected to, which is probably a good thing."

"Yeah, sure it is. But don't spend all day up here, will you?" he asked.

"No, no, I won't. But I've got all this stuff out and half-sorted, I may as well finish with that at least." I said, gesturing to the various things I had out.

"Definitely. Anyway, I actually came around to ask if you were going to have lunch now."

I considered this.

"No, I'm not hungry right now, so maybe around tea-time, before we go out." I replied. "But if Shizuka's hungry, you or one of the others can get something for her to eat, I'm fine with that."

"Gotcha." Masashi nodded, and then shuffled awkwardly, blushing suddenly. I gave him an odd look.

"Um…..can I come in? Like, properly."

"Okay….."

Masashi opened the door a little wider, and then stepped around it. He closed the door behind him-though not fully- and took a couple of steps in, but remained close to the doorway. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he regarded me for a moment.

"I don't have an answer for you, yet." I said, pre-empting him. "I'm sorry."

"No, that's nothing to be sorry for, I just wanted to make sure I hadn't upset you with it. I was worrying about that, a little bit."

 _Oh._

"I'm not upset." I told him truthfully. "Just a little….startled. And I'm wondering if I dreamed it, or something."

"You know, I kinda feel the same. I can't believe I said it. After all this time, I actually was able to tell you. "Masashi laughed. "It's kinda crazy, it took me so long and then I just…said it."

"I'm glad you did."

Masashi gave me a bug-eyed look.

"I am, really." I said, trying to smile. "It…well, it meant a lot to me..."

I paused, thinking of what to say next, and how to say it. Masashi waited patiently, expression giving away nothing.

"It's just I'm not sure where I stand when it comes for romance, in general. I mean, in the first place, Shizuka is my priority. But then, I actually have no idea about relationships or anything like that, I've got no experience with it."

Masashi blinked at that. He didn't ask the question, but I could see it.

"Koutarou was complicated." I said, matter-of-fact and as quick as possible. "But, anyway, I guess I'm saying….I don't know how to say if I can return your feelings or not if I don't know anything. I mean, we're friends, we're fellow Survivors and all that. So we know each other really well in a lot of ways, and you're important to me because of that. But I don't know whether I like you in that sense, or if I could like you like that. And it would be unfair to either say yes, let's go for it or just straight up no, because both of those would be lies."

"There's no pressure to give me a definite answer like, straight away-" Masashi started, but I shook my head and held up a hand.

"The thing about it though, is that it's fine. Well, not exactly fine. "In _some ways, it's terrifying…_

Masashi had become watchful again. I took a breath, and then continued.

"Because you're here, and you told me your feelings, and now I'm telling you mine. So that means we can keep talking, and keep meeting, and figure things out. So I guess I'm saying, could we do that? I mean, in the first place, I know we're all going to be making more efforts to see each other in person after this. And I know Shizuka would love it if you came to play with her from time to time and you two got to know each other. So maybe, in between that, we could go out. Try and get to know each other in a different way…"

… _but in other ways, it is wonderful._ I'd been so angry at myself, trying to compare this situation with Koutarou, but in truth, there was something to compare. With Koutarou, everything had been unsaid, sudden, mysterious. Nothing had happened, there was no clarity. But Masashi had told me his feelings, as clear as you could get. And in that clarity, there was a chance. Of what, exactly, I wasn't sure. But I'd be able to know it, for sure. And what a gift that would be.

"Go on a few dates as a sort of trial, you mean?"

"Essentially." I shrugged. "But, you clearly know how you feel, so is that something you'd be okay with? Is this enough for you?"

"Enough?" Masashi said incredulously. "Akamine-tan, I think this is more than I could have ever hoped for."

"R-Really? Then…"

"Yeah, let's go for it. "

And at that, Masashi smiled. A huge, hopeful smile. And I couldn't help but smile back. This had gone a lot better than I'd expected it to, and now? Well, now, there was a glimpse of a different kind of future. And I was glad for it. There was a part of me that thought: _if you had never come, this would have never happened,_ but that didn't matter. Because it had happened.

And for all I was still uncertain, I was looking forward to it.

 **…**

 _Noriko_

After lunch-or rather, a large snack around a lunch sort of time-Hokuto and I decided to go up and do some of our own packing, since Chieko had indeed had a point about getting it out of the way. So pack we did.

Or rather, I did a lot of packing. Hokuto seemed more occupied with texting someone, being distracted every few seconds by whoever it was. No skin off my nose, really, but it was distracting enough that I eventually got curious.

"Who has you all glued to your phone, then?" I asked her, teasingly, as I put some folded clothes into my suitcase.

"Haruhi-Chan." Hokuto said, not looking up from her phone.

"Haruhi?" I repeated the name, dumbly. "Who's that?"

This made Hokuto look up and give me a look.

"Haruhi Kisaragi. Don't you remember?"

"Why am I suppo-Ohhhh." Suddenly it dawned on me. "Tsukishima-san's friend."

"Hooray, cookies for you." Hokuto said sarcastically, before grinning. "That's the one."

"Yeah, I remember, you exchanged numbers, right? I take it you've hit it off?"

"Well, as far as texting goes, yeah." Hokuto said. "She's funny, smart, cute…she looks amazing in a yukata."

"How do you know this?"

"Photographs are a thing. "

"So…I guess she went festival going as well. Did she have fun?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, she went to a proper _Obon_ ceremony first, but then after that she pretty much had the same sort of evening we did, minus lost-child panic." Hokuto said, before going back to texting.

"Maybe next year you guys will get to go to a festival together." I said after a moment.

"Yeah, I hope so too." Hokuto said.

I shook my head, and concentrated on my own packing. Out of the corner of my vision, I did eventually see Hokuto return to focusing on her own packing, which made me grin to myself again. _Ah, love._ I wasn't quite ready for that myself, but there was definitely a part of me looking forward to how things might turn out when I did decide I was ready.

"It's gone so fast, hasn't it?"

Jolted from my thoughts, I turned to Hokuto.

"You mean the reunion?" I asked. "Yeah, it has, hasn't it? I'm kind of sad about that, but it's been great, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, definitely. Surprising, in some ways."

"How do you mean?"

"Well….I guess I should have expected that Hope's Peak would come up, at least a little. But I've always been operating under not thinking about it, so it was kinda all sudden. And I wasn't the biggest fan of it. Especially with your revelation."

I tensed at that.

"Oh, I…"

But Hokuto held up a hand before I could say anything, and then continued.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm cool with it now and I'll deal with whatever I'm not cool about. We hashed it out already and it's fine. Just….honestly, if that didn't have to happen I'd have preferred that course of events over this. Yet…at the same time, it's not that bad, to sometimes think and talk about it and all, is it?"

"Sure…." I said. "Just not to all and sundry, right?"

"Exactly." Hokuto said, pointing at me and grinning. "Exactly."

The grin wavered, and suddenly she became pensive.

"And we've all got a lot of closure we may not have been able to get before, right?" she said softly. "From coming here. _I_ definitely did."

It was clear that she was thinking of Rei. She had professed to be alright with how things had turned out, and the fact she was text-flirting with Haruhi did seem to support that. But it was clearly weighing on her.

"Yeah," I said, stumped for something better to say. "I got some closure myself, too. Or maybe not closure, exactly, but I guess I feel a bit…"

"…transformed?" Hokuto supplied after a pause.

"Exactly."

We stared at each other for a moment, and then Hokuto's phone vibrated, and she scrambled to pick it up and respond to whatever had been said. I stared at her, and then laughed to myself, shook my head, and turned away.


	69. Back to the Beginning (The Daisy Field)

_Hokuto_

"Uhhh, I thought this wasn't a fancy restaurant." I said, the moment I stepped inside and spotted the pretty glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

"It isn't." Akira said, deadpan. "It's just trying to be."

I chortled at that, and the others grinned.

"Besides, take a look around, does anyone look like they're dressed all fancy to you?" Masashi asked.

I obliged-though not before sticking my tongue out at him-and realised that he was right. There were a couple of young women wearing dresses, but they were still very casual ones, and everyone else was in jeans or shorts or skirts or just general casual summer garments. _Phew._

"Well, that's a relief." Noriko said. "I'd be underdressed if that was the case."

I snorted at that, and just grinned evilly when Noriko gave me a questioning look. We shuffled into a sort of queue while Akira went up to the hostess and told her that we had arrived.

"Table for eight, right? Including a little one?" She looked over and beamed at Shizuka, who blushed. "Right this way."

She led us over to a nice large table that was tucked away in a corner but still very well lit, with glasses and a couple of large jugs of water waiting for us, and gestured at us to sit down.

"Your waitress will be here in a moment, so take a seat and get comfortable."

"Thank you." Akira said for all of us.

The hostess went away, presumably to help seat other people, and a few moments went by before a waitress appeared, a young woman about our age with cheerful eyes.

"Hi, I'm Ami, and I'll be your waitress for tonight. Here are your menus and…" once she'd put the menus down, she did a small jazzy hand gesture before producing a small pile of colouring sheets and a packet of crayons. "…your entertainment."

She held them out to Shizuka, who took them shyly.

"What do you say?" Chieko prompted.

"Thank you!" Shizuka said obligingly, a little wide-eyed and pink cheeked.

"Not a problem." Ami said, beaming. "Would any of you like anything to drink for now?"

"I think maybe I'll go for a beer, whatever's cheapest." Masashi said.

"Orange juice for us, please." Chieko said, pointing to herself and Shizuka.

"Alright, got it. I'll get those, and then give you some time to decide what you want to eat, okay?"

"Yes, that's fine." Akira said.

"Perfect."

With another dazzling grin, Ami left us, gathering some plates and cups from an empty table as she headed to the kitchen. I poured myself some water, and we chatted for a while, mostly talking about how Akira and Masashi had come to choose this particular restaurant over the other options they had, and poring over the menu to work out what to order. We hashed it out enough that though not all of us had decided on meals by the time Ami came back with the drinks for Tyson, Chieko and Shizuka, we had found a couple of large starter sharing platters that we had decided were absolutely perfect.

"Ooh, those ones are popular with parties." Ami said once Akira had told her our choices. "Are you celebrating anything?"

"Not really." Akira shrugged. "We're just enjoying our friendship. Our holiday together's ending the day after tomorrow."

"Ohhh, I see." Ami nodded. "That's sad, but, sounds like you've been enjoying yourself?"

"Yes, we have." Tyson said.

"That's good to hear!" Ami exclaimed. "Well, I'll get this order in, it should be with you soon!"

She went off again, almost bounding.

"She's a cheerful one, isn't she?" Noriko remarked.

"It's nice," Wakana said. "She seems genuinely interested in making sure we're having a nice night-and I definitely am, so far."

"Yeah, same." Masashi agreed.

"Friendly's important in this kind of career." I said. "But even if you're not exactly friendly, at the least being sociable and polite and cracking a smile every so often is what you need."

"And what kind of waitress are you then, in Café Tanabata?" Masashi asked me.

"I man the tills, so not much of one. But yeah, I probably am a bit like her." I answered after some thought.

"Well, that's not surprising."

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?"

We all burst into laughter, and then Tyson changed the subject, and we were still chatting when Ami came back, setting the platters down, and then taking the main meal orders we had all eventually decided on. Chieko coaxed Shizuka away from the colouring she'd quickly become absorbed in, and we started nibbling at the starters. Time passed, there was more chatting, the main meals started to arrive, we sampled each other's food and laughed and had fun.

 _I can't believe that it's almost over. I don't want it to be over._ Being with these guys, just hanging out and having fun in a way we hadn't been able to for a while. It had been great to be able to do that, and the thought that it was all ending soon was sad.

Sure, there was a part of me that would be relieved to go back to normal life, such as it was. Running the café, sibling hijinks with Orihime, flirting with cute girls (or, if all went well, enjoying love with one specific girl), and Hope's Peak nothing more than a background hum, little beyond saying goodnight to my dead classmates' photographs, acknowledgement of anniversaries, the friendship I had with these guys and the occasional tinge of bittersweet nostalgia besides that.

Yet, at the same time, it hurt a little, to leave it behind and push it down. After everything that had happened, it was not so easy to supress it again. And that shouldn't have surprised me, that the past would feature so heavily in this reunion, but it had surprised me, and though a part of me would have preferred it to be suppressed, the rest of me did not, not now that it was on the surface again.

 _After all, the reason for everything up to now stems from there, doesn't it?_

"Say, Kazama, sir?" Tyson asked suddenly. "What's it like now, at Hope's Peak?"

"What do you mean?" Akira asked while we all stared.

"Hope's Peak doesn't exist anymore." Masashi said, half-savage. "It was collapsing on us, remember?"

"Crikey, cool it a bit." I muttered at Masashi. As much as I had the same sentiment, I didn't think he was being entirely fair. Though maybe I would have snapped myself if I hadn't just been dwelling on the place myself.

"No, I know. What I meant is..." Tyson let out a ragged breath. "What's become of the grounds? The ruins?"

"Oh." Wakana let out a soft breath, one she'd apparently held when Tyson asked the question.

"Ah, right." Masashi rubbed his head, embarrassed but not ready to admit it. "They didn't build anything there, did they, Akira-tan?"

"No. They cleaned up the place, tidied away the rubble, made sure nothing dangerous was around, that sort of thing. They left behind some floor, some wall fragments, so the last I saw of it, it looked like ruins of a castle."

That, for some reason, made me laugh. It wasn't funny, but all the same. The thought of the once great institution reduced to castle ruins, it was something to laugh at. And also something to cry over, depending on how you looked at it, but I didn't want to particularly look at it that way. There'd been too much crying already.

"You okay?" Noriko asked me.

"Yeah, yeah," I replied, before turning to Akira. "So, what, it's some tourist attraction now?"

"Not as such. It got a lot of attention initially, but now, from what I know, it's pretty much abandoned. I think maybe someone tried to grow some wildflowers there-though who knows why-but they just went out of control. So it's not obvious they're there, or anything. And nobody maintains it in that kind of way, plants aside, because there are more pressing issues for the Future Foundation. "

"That's weird," Noriko mused through a mouthful of food. "You'd think people would be all over it. Aren't people usually all over this kinda thing?"

"If the Future Foundation had thought it worth investing in, they would have, I suppose." Akira said after some thought. "I'm not sure of the exact reasoning or anything though."

"It's too long ago to be in the immediate memory of the world, but too soon to be considered history." Wakana said suddenly.

We were all silent as we absorbed that.

"Yeah…." Tyson said, after a moment. "That sounds about right."

"It does, doesn't it?" Noriko agreed.

"Yes." Akira nodded.

"It shouldn't have been." Chieko said, softly.

"Yes, well, what can we do about that?" Masashi asked, bitterly. "Nothing."

"No, we can't…." Chieko agreed, softly.

Again, there was another silence. We all looked at each other, not knowing how to continue, or even if to just begin again. I picked at what remained of my food, wanting to eat it, yet not being able to bring myself too. _Because it's over, almost over…_

"Maybe we should go there…"

I didn't realise that I had actually said it until they all looked at me. And then once I realised it, I couldn't quite believe it. To go back to there, that was hardly the definition of moving on. It would quite literally be stepping backwards. Yet, I was curious, about these castle-like ruins and overgrown wildflowers that had transformed what had once been a pretty dang amazing place and one of the most prestigious schools in the country. That, and in all truth and honesty, perhaps I had not moved on quite as well as I'd thought. Or as cleanly.

After all, if I had, I would not have felt compelled to bring the purple box with me, I would not have chased after Rei, I would have never found out what had happened between us. The whole book thing, I could take or leave, as I'd said to Noriko, but even that had been…something. Something that, like a lot of what we did, had ended up with me dwelling on Hope's Peak more in this short time than I had over the past seven years. And I didn't feel cured, or anything, but…perhaps I had needed all of that. Not just the closure with Rei, but the ability to understand everything else too, to just think about the others a little more than I already did. Perhaps that was what moving on really meant.

And besides, even if that's not what it meant for me, I'd at least managed to find a glimpse of a future from wandering in the past. I would not have found that, if I hadn't come.

 _So between that and the happiness, coming was really the best thing, wasn't it? So maybe it'll be a good thing, to go back. Just to see._

"Yeah," I said, more determinedly this time. "Let's go there. Now we're talking about it, I'm kind of curious about what remains of Hope's Peak."

 _Not to mention, Hope Valley High. I wonder what that place is like now? But I'll ask later. Hope's Peak is enough for now._

"What is Hope's Peak, Mummy? And why do you all keep saying it?" Shizuka chose this moment to ask.

"Not now, Shizuka. I'll tell you later." Chieko said hurriedly, before looking back over at us.

"Well….can't say I don't feel the same." Masashi shrugged. "Didn't expect you to be the one to say it, though."

"Well that's fine, cos neither did I."

I laughed as I said this, and everyone else did. Well, everyone apart from Shizuka, who was still regarding us with a mixture of confusion and suspicion. When we calmed down, Akira looked around at us carefully.

"Well…if everyone's okay with it, then we can go there tomorrow." He said, slowly.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Noriko said.

"I would be interested in seeing it, for sure." Tyson said. "Wakana, are you okay with it?"

"I…." Wakana hesitated, thinking for a moment. "Yeah. "

Tyson gave her a careful look, and she nodded once back at him. Then, since I had suggested it, and Akira and Masashi had already voiced their agreement, that left Chieko.

"Chieko-Chan?" Noriko asked.

Chieko sighed, looked around at all of us, glanced at Shizuka-who had gone back to scribbling on the colouring sheets-and then then she looked back at us again, and sighed.

"Okay."

"Well, that's a plan, then." Akira declared.

At that moment, a waitress came and stopped by our table.

"Have you finished with those?" she asked, gesturing to our plates.

I looked down at mine. Somehow, without noticing, I'd eaten the rest of what I had just been picking at. So I grinned and nodded, passing the plate. Everyone else passed their plates, and the waitress stacked them together expertly, before leaving.

"Sooo, now that's established…." Noriko reached over, and pulled out a dessert menu from the menu holder. "Anyone for dessert?"

 **…**

 _Chieko_

We set off early the next morning, after a hasty breakfast. Shizuka was clearly curious about the whole thing, but still a little too sleepy to ask questions-a small mercy for me, for it would mean I'd have time to steel myself and prepare my answers. In the car, she snuggled against me and closed her eyes, clutching Yosa tightly.

As expected, though there were people going to work and other such things, it was still pretty quiet on the roads. Tyson and Noriko were eager to point out different things that they thought they recognised, while Masashi pointed out different routes he frequently went on when working and Akira told them a little about what was still the same, and what had changed. Hokuto and Wakana didn't really join in at first, but gradually, Hokuto was also pointing different things out, and Wakana just mused about how interesting it was.

For my part, I would look where they were pointing, and chime in with some agreement about an observation made, but I was too busy processing it all, getting my answers together and working myself up to the moment, to really be able to participate. It was not as if I'd been averse to making these comparisons before, from the station to Akira's house, at the beginning of the trip. But it was different, because we were going back _there_. To the beginning of everything.

 _Will I recognise it, even though it will be so different? Will I be able to work out where and how everything happened, figure out what paths I might have taken while there?_

"I'll park there; we can go the rest of the way. It won't be far from this point."

Akira's announcement startled me. Masashi said something in agreement, but I didn't pay too much attention, as I looked out of the window and spotted a bus driving past, going down a route I remembered very well…

 _"Ah, this is the stop!" I exclaimed, getting up as the bus started to slow. "Come on, Koutarou!"_

 _"Yes, yes, I'm coming." Koutarou grumbled._

 _I started to gather up my bags, putting my backpack on my back and arranging the other bags atop suitcases. Plenty of other people were getting off at this stop as well, which was a good thing on one hand, but on the other hand meant we'd have trouble dragging all our bags off quickly enough and getting off. And given the occasional dark looks we'd gotten from the kids in the black school uniform, getting off quick would probably be for the best._

 _The bus finally pulled into the stop, and I stumbled a bit._

 _"Lemme take that." Koutarou said._

 _"You're already carrying your own body weight, how's that going to help any of us?" I retorted, dragging a suitcase out and wheeling it to the side, before going back for the rest._

 _"For fuck's sake!" a boy bristled as I bumped into him while trying to juggle the rest of my bags._

 _"Sorry!" I said cheerily. "It's not easy carrying this much on the bus."_

 _The boy's response was to swear again, and he quickly rushed away and followed a stream of other kids in the same sort of uniform, going in the direction I vaguely remembered Hope's Peak being in on the map. Oh, wait...the other school. These guys must be from there. Distracted by this revelation, I stumbled as I got off the bus yet again, and I flailed before I felt someone grab my arm and steady me, at the same time that Koutarou rushed over._

 _"I'm fine," I told him. "Just lost my footing, but..."_

 _I turned to see it had been an elegant looking dark haired teen who had steadied me. She was wearing a Hope Valley High uniform too and didn't seem all too pleased to have helped me. But the next words from her mouth were kind._

 _"Let me help - you're gathering it there, right?"_

 _"Yeah, we'll be fine once we're off the bus and we rearrange." I said._

 _"Good, I wouldn't be dragging your stuff for you all the way there." the girl said, taking some of our bags._

 _"Nobody asked you to." I replied, cheerily, though I was slightly ticked off._

 _The girl pursed her lips at that, but helped us leave our bags on the side of the pavement so we could sort them out. The bus drove away, and kids streamed past, some giving us looks ranging from curious to contemptuous._

 _"You a Hope's Peak slave now, Yama-Chan?" one shouted out._

 _"Shut up you idiot, they're newbies, they're probably not bad yet." The girl yelled back before returning to helping us, even stacking some so it would be easy to carry._

 _"Thanks." Koutarou said to her when she was done_

 _"Yeah, thank you, that was cool of you, erm...is it Yama-san?" I asked hesitantly._

 _The girl's expression morphed immediately, and I stiffened. I could sense Koutarou bristle beside me, but he said nothing._

 _"You don't need to know my name. You just need to know that we don't make friends with your sort."_

 _With that, she turned swiftly and headed in the direction of the other kids, catching up with the girl who had teased her. I stared at a moment, and then turned to Koutarou._

 _"I guess we should get going, right? I'll call Dad and Ana-san when we get to the gate."_

 _"Sounds like a plan."_

Akira parked, then motioned at us to wait while he went to print out a parking permit from the machine. He was back quickly, and the moment he did we all piled out. As I helped Shizuka to get out, she looked around her in confusion.

"Is this where we're going?" she asked.

"Not quite yet," I told her, taking her hand. "We've got a little way to walk."

"Oh."

We walked in silence, an odd little procession, I was sure, expressions all serious though we were clearly not dressed for anything special. There were people around on these roads, traffic on the roads, but the moment we got to the start of _that_ street, it all seemed to go quiet. There were a few cars, but no other people walked on the pavement, it was just us. Ridiculous as it was, it felt like a sign of just how far that year had reached, that this street would only ever be something people went past, never the destination.

But it was our destination now. Or rather, a certain part of it was. There were no walls or boundaries to speak of. Just a field starting where the other end of the pavement finished, where a building and grounds had once been. _Koutarou, look at this._ It was now just a field of daisies, left to grow as tall and wild as they pleased, as far as the eye could see and beyond. If I hadn't known better, I might have assumed that it had been like this already, always.

 _But no, that's not so. It never should have been like this._ There was a breeze, and the daisies fluttered carefree, their happy yellow middles almost glowing, oblivious. Idly, I looked across the road to see that the building, wall and gates that had been there still were there, at least. Dirty, boarded up, neglected, a mere ghost of a school, but still there.

"They didn't demolish it, huh?" Hokuto muttered, unable to tear her gaze away from the place that had been Hope Valley High.

"No, they didn't." Akira replied. "There was no real reason to, was there? And considering everything else that had to be dealt with in the aftermath, it was far easier to let it become…well. Like this."

"Might have been better to demolish it all though. Maybe our school was the only one that crumbled literally, but it was the end of an era for both of us." Hokuto retorted.

 _An end of an era, huh?_

Hokuto turned away from it abruptly, and stomped ahead of Akira, and then stopped, right at the boundary of the daisy field, turning so she was facing that boundless expanse of white and yellow and green. We followed her, all lining up as we stood and turned ourselves to it, silent as we stared. Not a single one of us quite dared to break the silence, none of us were quite brave enough to step forward into the daisy field.

Shizuka, of course, was the one to do that for us.

"Mummy?"

"Yes?"

"What is this place? Why are we here?"

I looked at her. The past was so heavy, so hard. And yet, I had made a promise that I would share it. And now here I was, back at the beginning, breeze picking up our hair and playing with it, the daisies swaying to soften the blow. So I took a breath, pointed out at the expanse, and said:

"This is where our school was."

* * *

 **I've been excited to write this moment for a while now. And the scenes that follow it, which will all be in the next chapter. Or maybe chapter after next, as it's a fairly intense set of scenes and it might take me a while to write, so I'll probably put up a Scraps chapter first if I don't finish it on time.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And as always, please leave feedback.**


	70. Scraps of the Past 15

**I did get further with the next main chapter than I expected, but it's still not finished. So here we have another Scraps :). Enjoy**

* * *

The last few hours had been a blur for Shin'ya Takeuchi. He wasn't even sure if it had _been_ hours. Maybe it had been _days_. He wasn't sure if it mattered, either. Days, hours, all of it was too long that Kanekatsu was still trapped with her class and that weird psychotic lady and all her soldiers ( _were_ they soldiers? What soldiers would do something like that?).

When his class had been let out, he'd tried to get to her, attempt to sneak her out, but she had refused him even before he'd made a move. And he'd understood why, straight away. After all, they had all just seen the consequences of trying to defy those people moments before. It would have been foolish to test their patience again. _But how could I have gone without at least trying, Kane?_ He knew that she would never think that he didn't care, had he chosen to just escape as quickly as possible, but even so, he could not just stand by.

 _Well, it doesn't matter,_ Shin'ya sighed quietly to himself as he leaned against the window he was staring out of. It was chaos outside as well-firetrucks and police cars and ambulances zipping down the street, people in hysterics running around or trying to reach other people on phones. Clearly, there was something bigger going on. _Is it that cult group that's been making the news lately? The lady was wearing a mask like their mascot bear, after all…_

"Oh for fuck's sake, how long are we going to be stuck here waiting?!" the voice of one of his classmate's suddenly exploded.

"Calm down please, Ogawa-san. I'm sure they're trying to be as quick as possible."

Shin'ya turned around at their Class Representative's Masami calm tone. She noticed him looking at them all, and spun around to him.

"Are you alright, Takeuchi-kun?" Masami inquired, her heavy-lidded violet eyes looking sorrowful. "I know it must have been hard for you, with Iwafusa-san still there and all. It's hard for Yujiko-san too."

"Yeah…" Shin'ya murmured, not really sure which statement he was responding to.

"Come and sit with us, Takeuchi!" Ogawa declared. "Some nurses or something brought snacks and crap, so we may as well eat while we're waiting, right? Speaking of which, nobody answered my goddamn question."

"I think the police and everyone are pretty stretched, from what I saw out there." Shin'ya responded as he accepted Ogawa's offer and went to sit by her. He glanced over to Yujiko, who was pacing up and down the length of the room. _I should say something to her, shouldn't I? After all, we're both in similar situations._

"Yes, that's right." Masami said. "It looks like the Hope's Peak situation isn't the only…"

"Situation?" another of their male classmates finished wryly.

"Yes."

Shin'ya absently picked up a carton of juice, but didn't make a move to take off the straw and put it in the carton. Instead, he just held it, and leaned back on the wooden chair he was sitting on, closing his eyes for a moment.

"I just want to go home."

Shin'ya opened his eyes then, and met the eyes of the boy opposite him, who had spoken. He was looking in the distance, eyes unfocused as he played with a lock of his dark hair.

"Yeah, me too." Shin'ya replied softly.

"They would have called our parents, right?" Ogawa said.

"I'm sure they would have." Masami said. "But it would take a while for them to get here, right? Especially for those of you who come from far away."

 _Like me,_ Shin'ya thought. _Though, if I had my phone with me, I'd tell Ma and Pa not to come, they can't afford it._

"Erm….speaking of which, if people's families can't come for whatever reason or there's money problems…" Shin'ya startled as the boy opposite him spoke up again. "I'm sure my family would be willing to cover the costs of getting you home or them here or vice versa."

"What, is this your good deed of the day, Tatsubana?" Ogawa snorted.

Tatsubana only blinked at her, though he did at least look a little more focused. But he still didn't look okay. _Is he in shock?_ Paediatrician instincts kicking in, Shin'ya picked up a chocolate bar and gestured to Tatsubana with it.

"No, I just….." Tatsubana stammered as he stared at the chocolate bar.

"Thank you, that's really kind of you." Shin'ya encouraged.

"It's no problem." Tatsubana eventually took the bar and unwrapped it slowly.

"Look, I didn't mean anything bad by that, it's cool you'd offer and all…" Ogawa groaned as she rubbed her head. "It's just…."

"It's okay, we understand." Masami said soothingly. "I think we're all going a little mad."

"Too right." Another snort came from Ogawa, though now the fight had gone out of her.

Just at that moment, the door opened. All of them turned their head and stared as two men walked in through the door. Both were slim, though one was a lot taller and broader than the other. The shorter one had a friendlier expression and a thoroughly average face, while the taller was severe and pale. Yujiko was the first to react.

"Can I see my brothers and sisters?" she called out, stopping her pacing and running right up to the two men. "Ichiro, Zenzo, Goromi and Shiro….Shiro…."

Yujiko trailed off, and though her back was turned, Shin'ya could imagine the way her face crumpled as she remembered what had happened, and sure enough she soon bent double, covering her face with her hands, and sobbing filled the room.

 _I need to do something._

"Usami-san!" Shin'ya abandoned his still-unopened juice and went over, putting a steadying hand on her back and rubbing small soothing circles, the way he was used to doing with his young patients whenever they'd been made scared of something, or when they were disclosing abuse, or when they just generally felt bad in some way. As he did, he looked up at the two men.

"Do you know what's happened with Class 78?" he asked. "Did you manage to get them out?"

The two men exchanged a look.

"Unfortunately, we haven't yet, we're still working on it though." The shorter man said.

"A-are they okay? It was being…streamed, right?" Yujiko managed to stammer out.

"That is true, unfortunately after Class 77A were released we…lost the visual." The shorter man said apologetically.

 _Lost visuals? That means….no, no. Kane, you have to be alright._

Yujiko let out a strangled sound, and Shin'ya slowly steered her back around to a chair, exchanging a look with Masami as he did so. Ogawa and a couple of other girls went straight to Yujiko once she was settled, and then returned to standing in front of the two men, along with Masami.

"Who are the two of you, if I may ask? Have you come to tell us what's going on?"

"That, and to get your statements about what occurred. In any case, I'm Kyosuke Munakata, and this is Makoto Naegi, we're both from the Future Foundation. I presume you're Masami Hojo, the SHSL Spoken Word Artist?"

"Yes, that's right." Masami bowed. "I'm the Class Representative of Class 77B."

"I wish we could have met under better circumstances." The shorter man-Naegi-said. "But it is what it is. Anyway, I know it's going to be hard for you to do so, but it would really help if you could tell us anything at all about what happened today."

"Sure, we'll do our best." Masami said agreeably.

 _But I can't just sit here, and talk about it. I know that'll help, but every second, Kanekatsu is…she is…_

Shin'ya couldn't think of what else to do, so he went and sat back down with Masami, helped comfort the others as they all bit by bit provided the statement that Munakata and Naegi wanted. But with each second that went by, he couldn't stop thinking of Kanekatsu and what might be happening to her. _No,_ he tried to scold himself, _I have to believe. I'm sure she believes that she'll get out, so I need to have faith too…_

 _But…_

Eventually, Munakata and Naegi wrapped up, offering assurances that their families would be on the way and that they'd be able to go home soon, and they made to leave, taking Yujiko with them so she could join her other siblings in another room. Shin'ya watched like the others, but just as they got to the door, something compelled him to get up and shout out.

"Wait!"

 _I need to do something._

"What is it, Takeuchi-kun?" Naegi asked with some concern.

"I….your Future Foundation, it's specifically to deal with the Despair cult, right? And you have a team working to get Class 78 out, right? And you're a new organisation, still in need of help, right?"

"That's all true, but with the latter you've got nothing to worry abo-"

"No, that's not-"Shin'ya paused, took a breath.

 _I need to do something._

"That's not it," he tried again. "What I'm saying is-can I join you?"

Naegi and Munakata appeared to be struck silent, but his classmates burst out with surprised noises.

"What the fuck, Takeuchi?" Ogawa cried out.

"You wish to join the Future Foundation?" Munakata said after a beat.

Shin'ya nodded, and Munakata frowned.

"Very well. Let us escort Usami-san to her siblings, and then we'll come back and talk about it."

Before Shin'ya could say or ask anything else, they were gone. He sighed, and went to sit back down, not even minding that Ogawa and Masami almost instantly descended upon him with questions and exclamations. His mind was only on one thing now.

 _I'll get you out, Kane. I promise._

* * *

 **Can't remember if I said this before or not, but when i first created Shin'ya's character, I did so for the purpose of sending him to an SYOC, but at the time couldn't find one to put him in. Then I came up with the idea of this story, and as I started gathering my cast, considered putting him in here in some context instead. And this is the result :) But if anyone's curious about his backstory or how he might have been in a killing game, PM me or drop me an ask on Tumblr or whatever and I'll answer you as soon as I can.  
**


	71. The Daisy Field

_Chieko_

There was a silence, and I held my breath. Shizuka looked up at me uncertainly, and then back out across the field, and then at the others, who patiently waited, waiting to see what I would do or say.

"You had school in a field?" she eventually asked, very uncertain.

"No," I explained calmly, surprised I was able to be calm. "Our school was in a building, just like any other school. It was called Hope's Peak."

Realisation dawned almost immediately for her.

"That's the thingy you were saying yesterday!" she exclaimed, happy for a moment. "It was your school?"

"Yes. The building that Hope's Peak used to be in was here."

"Ohhhh."

Shizuka looked pleased at this knowledge for a moment, but then she became confused again.

"Then where did it go?"

"It collapsed-it fell down."

"Why?"

" _Well, I know when I'm beaten!" Enoshima said, yawning. "So fine, you win!"_

" _So you will let us out?" Akira asked._

" _Of couuurse, I'm a woman of my word, am I not?"_

 _Masashi muttered something under his breath, and I caught a few snatches of swear-words in amongst the mutterings. It almost reminded me of Koutarou, except that whatever Masashi had been muttering was almost entirely in Japanese. My shoulders stiffened a little at the memories, and I made myself focus only on Enoshima, who was sizing us up, waiting, dragging out the moment as long as she could._

" _So….."_

 _Suddenly, she reached underneath her throne, fiddled a moment, and then sat up straight, grinning. Nothing happened for a moment, and then suddenly, a creaking, clanking sound started, gradually going louder._

" _What the hell is that?!" Noriko asked, spinning around, as startled as I was._

 _We all turned to the direction of the sound, to see that a section of the luridly-papered wall was now sliding away to reveal a metal door, smooth and handle-less._

" _Is that our way out?" Akira asked._

" _Yes, yes it is. But, you may have noticed that there's no handle or keypad, right? So, how do you think you're going to get out…?" Enoshima propped her chin on her hand, and smirked at us._

" _Is this a trick?" Tyson demanded. "You gave us your word."_

 _Enoshima pouted, looking so despondent it was as if she hadn't been smirking at us just moments before. I stared, not sure how to process this. To process_ her _._

" _How could you think so badly of me? Course this isn't a trick. But you just need…."_

 _Once again, she reached under her chair, but this time, she pulled something out. A remote, large and grey with a single red button in the middle of it and an antennae sticking out of the top. Suddenly, she flicked her hand out and it flew towards me. Scrambling, I managed to catch it, and I looked down at the contraption, confused._

" _Aim that at the door, it'll open it. It'll lead to a corridor, and that'll take you out. Right into the middle of the end of the world. Kids these days, don't know a good thing when it's given to them."_

" _Yes, well, we'd much rather that than what you've put us through!" Masashi told her hotly, triggering peals of condescending laughter._

 _I looked at it doubtfully, then looked up at my friends. Wakana smiled uncertainly at me, and Akira nodded. I returned my gaze to the remote. It was the only way, so silently, I stepped away from my podium, and walked to the door. The others gathered behind me, and with a shaky hand, I held the remote up to the door, and hesitated. I looked over my shoulder at Enoshima, who was watching us with an expression that I could only describe as haughty._

" _What, you're reconsidering?" she taunted._

 _I thought of Koutarou, and I gritted my teeth._

" _I'm not letting you win."_

 _I pressed the button, and with a whirring, the door slid away, revealing a corridor with dark metal walls, snaking away somewhere into the unknown. To freedom. I let the remote slip from my hands as I took the first step into it, and then I kept walking, the others behind me all the while._

The breeze picked up suddenly, and I held my face up to it, savouring it until it faded. Then I looked back to Shizuka, still waiting for an answer.

"A bad person." I told her. "A bad person wanted to hurt us, and lots of other people, so she did that."

Shizuka opened her mouth, but then she shut it, frowning in confusion.

"I can't even see any ruins from here." Noriko said. "Though I'm not sure if it's just me or not-I didn't know daisies could grow so damn big."

"Certain types can if there's nothing to stop them." I replied, almost automatically.

"All that's left is just fragments, pretty much." Akira explained. "I think it'll be easier to glimpse them if we walked further in."

"Uhhh…is that not trespassing?" Tyson asked uncertainly, though he certainly looked eager at the prospect of taking a closer look.

"No, no, it's fine." Akira reassured him.

"Well, that's…good." Wakana said, a little uncertainly.

 _Yeah, I don't know how to feel about this, either._

"Let's go, then." I decided, looking to the others.

"That's what we're here for, after all." Hokuto said, shrugging.

"Ain't that the truth?" Masashi said.

I took Shizuka's hand, and I took the first step into the daisy field, the others following.

And then we kept walking.

 **…**

 _Masashi_

Being here was one of the weirdest thing. In a way, it was like visiting a grave, except that nobody was buried here. Just a skeleton of a building, and lots of memories. Though I couldn't even see the building from here. _Just how far out is it?_ I hadn't really realised before, how big this place was. So I'd spent most of my time at Hope's Peak holed up in a section of the building, so fair enough to a certain extent, but….there was so much. Back when it'd been filled with different things, sectioned out into different areas for different purposes, it was hard to see. But now, I could see it, there was so much of it. And then, of course, there was underground.

" _Guys, we're walking upwards!" Noriko exclaimed suddenly._

" _What?" Hokuto asked._

" _We're walking upwards!" she repeated. "Haven't you noticed?"_

 _I turned around, and realised that the tunnel wasn't one straight line, but was in fact sloping upwards. How had I not noticed that, I had no idea, but that probably wasn't a big deal under the circumstances._

" _Well, that makes sense. We've come from underground, haven't we?" Akira said after a moment of considering it._

" _So that's a good thing, right?" Wakana asked. "That means we're actually escaping."_

" _Yes, it is. Let's keep moving, though, the sooner we're out of here, the better." Akira said._

" _Yes, sir!" Tyson agreed instantly._

 _We kept walking, and the tunnel continued to slope upwards, becoming more like a hill, before eventually starting to flatten out._

" _We're getting there!" Wakana exclaimed. "We must be!"_

" _Yeah, sure looks like it-" I was cut off suddenly, by a rumbling._

" _Kita-kun?" Chieko asked quietly._

" _Did you hear-"_

 _I was cut off again, and I paused in my tracks._

" _Yeah, I did, what is it?" Hokuto said._

 _The rumbling continued, getting louder and louder. Then the walls started to shake, and we stared at each other uncertainly._

" _Ummm…I think we should run." Noriko said. "That doesn't sound so good."_

 _And at that moment, cracks started to appear in the wall._

I suppose that place would count as being buried, all things considering. Though, I wasn't about to come and start talking to it the way I did with our dead classmates. That would just be weird. _Even so, this is a graveyard, of sorts. Least I don't have to worry about buying flowers._ I smirked to myself a moment, looking around at the daisies, then turned to Akira.

"Hey, Akira-tan, why daisies, do you know?"

"Not a clue. I assume that it's just what seeds ended up flying here and getting pollinated."

"Yeah, that's most likely how it happened." Chieko called from where she was ahead. "Though that really accounts for how far they've spread rather than anything else. Someone must have deliberately planted them, or there'd be a more random mix of plants. Grass, some dandelions, other wildflowers, weeds. "

"Don't daisies signify hope?" I asked, remembering suddenly.

"Faith." Chieko corrected. "Though, some might say that's the same thing."

"Maybe that's why." Akira suggested, shrugging.

I considered it, and then shrugged back. It wasn't as if we'd ever know, anyway.

 **…**

 _Noriko_

 _The next thing I knew, I was flying, and then just as quickly, I fell down again, my head hitting a piece of rock. My glasses flew off, turning everything into a blur. Gingerly, as I straightened, I felt my forehead with one hand, and it came away sticky. Though I could barely see, I knew that stickiness would be red. I ignored the faint dizziness that came with it, and crawled forward, feeling around for my glasses._

I realised I had stopped, and that I was rubbing my scar again. Pulling my hand away, I half expected it to come away as sticky and red as my memories, and had to stare a moment when it wasn't. On an impulse, I stretched my arms out wide, closed my eyes, and took in the breeze.

" _Ma'am, are you alright?" I could hear Tyson suddenly, and sensed someone moving towards me. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms was pulling me up, coaxing me forward._

" _I-I'm fine." I said. "My glasses…I need to find my glasses though."_

" _Oh, come on! We need to get outta here first!" Hokuto's voice called out, grabbing at me._

" _Nanto, Ma'am! Are you here to help Edano?"_

" _Yeah, yeah, you keep running. And Noriko-Chan, we gotta go too! It's okay, I'll lead you!"_

I opened my eyes again, let my hands fall back to my side, and kept walking to catch up with the others, only to see that Hokuto had stopped. Curious, I jogged closer to her, and noticed she was shaking, slightly.

"Ho-Chi?" When that got no response, I leant in and yelled. "HEY, HO-CHI?"

That didn't work either, so I sighed, and put a hand on her shoulder. That worked, making Ho-Chi shriek and jump, whipping around to look at me.

"What was that for?" Hokuto cried.

"You were out of it." I replied. "You okay?"

"Yeah….no, actually…." She sighed, and looked ahead. "I was just remembering. Back there."

"I was, too." I told her. "It's fine."

Hokuto pulled a variety of exaggerated faces while she thought of what to say next, and eventually sighed.

"Well, never mind…" she then gestured out ahead of us. "You know, this looks like the sort of field where you film two lovers running to each other and having a weepy reunion."

"I thought that was corn, not daisies."

"Whatever, it looks like that kind of field." Hokuto shrugged, and then grinned. "Hey, want to race me?"

I stared at her, but before I could say anything she had taken off. I chased after her, laughing.

 **…**

 _Tyson_

This was one of the saddest places I'd ever seen. It looked like an idyll, a scene perfect for painting, for putting on the front of greeting cards. The type of place busy city people looking for peace would have come. But all the same, it was the saddest place.

 _Perhaps_ , I thought _, it's because I know all too well what was here before, and know how quickly it was all bulldozed away._ As the others kept walking-or, in the case of Noriko and Hokuto, racing-I paused and bent down, brushing my hands over the tops of the daisies. Such a pretty thing to have grown somewhere where something so horrible had happened. Then again, it was said that sunsets were the most beautiful after a storm.

 _Still, it seems like quite a waste, doesn't it? To just let all of this go. Surely this space could have been used for something?_

My mind whirred with possibilities of using this space for a memorial for the ones we'd lost here. I'd been thinking that one was needed, after all, and it would be fitting for it to be here. I didn't have any ideas for it, not even the glimmer of one, but just the possibility of it...

I noticed a shadow fall over me, and turned to see Wakana had turned back to come to me. With a small smile, she knelt down and regarded the daisies herself.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Remembrance." I said, simply.

"Oh." She said.

We looked back out ahead of us, and remembered.

 _I felt myself slowing down as I struggled to rip at my blazer, and I willed myself to keep going forward. I couldn't stop, not now. It wasn't safe to stop in this situation, not unless I was helping someone. Not that it was safe even then, but to stop to help someone was much more understandable than stopping for any other reason. It would be shameful, cowardly._

 _That, and I just didn't want to die._

Pull yourself together, Tyson De Guerre, you're almost there. _I told myself, even though I knew it was partly a lie._

 _I gave up on ripping up my blazer, and instead held a hand to where I had been struck, bunching up the fabric of my clothes a little to press against the wound. And then I kept going._

"I miss it."

I almost didn't hear Wakana's whisper, and I turned to look at her.

"I miss how it was before. That we had to have that taken away too. There's not even a trace left."

"Yeah," I agreed. "It isn't."

In truth, I didn't think that Hope's Peak would have been able to continue as normal after what had happened, even if it had remained standing. It would have been as if they'd managed to get away with their role in making it so easy to do what Junko Enoshima had did, in being the centre of it all. On the other hand, the building would have at least been a touchstone, of sorts. Our innocence, our memories, our classmates, our greatest strengths, they'd all been taken.

 _But that's why we need a memorial, isn't it?_

"I guess there's the ruins though, isn't there?" Wakana said after a moment. "Though I can't even see them."

"This place is bigger than it looks, I think. They're probably a lot further away."

I got up, though not before plucking a couple of daisies on impulse. I then held a hand out for Wakana. She grabbed ahold, tightly, and I pulled her up. Once she was standing, I was about to let go of her hand when she shook her head.

"No, it's fine." She said by way of explanation, blushing slightly.

I nodded at that, wondering what to say now. Since our stargazing talk, we hadn't really said anything about us, mostly because there wasn't any need to. It was far too soon for anything to have changed since then. But all the same, it felt a little like following a map with all the landmarks unlabelled. Then I remembered the daisies, and, feeling like a bashful teenager again, held them out to her.

Wakana blinked at the daisies, and then, with her free hand, took them. She clumsily tucked one behind her ear, and tucked the rest into her jean pocket carefully, the flowers sticking out cheerfully. And then, hand in hand, we continued walking.

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

To my surprise, it didn't take long for Noriko to catch up with me, and then to overtake me. Grinning, I sped up, doing my best to overtake her again. My hair was flying around, some of it whipping my face- _I really should have tied it this morning_ -but I didn't care.

" _Crap!" I yelled, swerving out of the way of yet another flying piece of building. "Noriko-Chan?"_

" _I'm fine!" she yelled back._

" _Keep holding onto me, okay!"_

" _Yeah, yeah, I know!"_

The flashback took me by surprise, and I stumbled, holding my hands out in anticipation of the fall, but managing to get my footing at the last moment. With Noriko getting further and further, I stood still, as still as I could, to block out the noises from back then.

 _What had I expected?_ This was the scene of the crime, so to speak. It was where everything had happened. Of course it would bring everything back. But…I had wanted this, and I knew I needed it. So I took a deep breath, and then a few more, did my best to box the memory back in a corner, then started running again, as fast as I could. Through sheer will, I managed to catch up to Noriko, and then revel in her surprised look as I managed to overtake her.

"W-wha? You were way behind me!"

"I know!" I gloated.

I ran a little bit further, then decided to stop, and spun around, waving.

"I win!"

Noriko mock-glared at me as she slowed her pace to jog the rest of the way to me.

"And who decided this was the finish line?" she asked, a little grumpily.

"Well, I did, of course!" I grinned back.

"That's unfair." Noriko sighed, then reached for her bottle of water. "Whatever."

I decided to take a drink too, and then after a few moments, I looked around to see where everyone else was, spotting Chieko slightly behind us and off to the side with Shizuka, and Tyson and Wakana some way behind us and…. _holding hands? Oooooh-_

"Shall we go catch up to them?" Noriko asked, grinning cheekily.

I blinked and stared at her, before looking to where she was pointing up ahead to where Masashi and Akira had somehow ended up way ahead of us, even though they'd basically just been ambling the entire time. I just shrugged, and Noriko grinned.

"Let's go, then."

Before I could say anything, she grabbed my hand and started dragging me forward. When we got to them, Noriko motioned at me to be quiet, and then sneakily tapped Masashi on the back, making him jump.

"What the hell?!" he shouted. "What was that for?"

"Oh, nothing." I said through my laughter.

"Apparently just for the giggles, it seems." Akira noted, deadpan.

 _Dragging Noriko with me, I rushed over to Masashi and knelt down._

" _Stay there, don't move." I instructed Noriko as I started to tug at the first piece of rubble._

" _Why? What are you doing? What's up with Kita-kun?"_

" _I'm stuck under fucking shitty massive piles of fucking junk, that's what's up!" Masashi exclaimed, attempting to push away chunks of concrete himself. "And what's happened to you?"_

" _I tripped and lost my glasses, that's what." Noriko said, mimicking him as she clumsily reached over and attempted to help. "And now I'm as blind as a goddamn bat and-"_

 _She let out a shriek as I lunged at her and pushed her away from yet more falling bits of wall. One brushed my ear, and I let out a shriek of my own, my hand automatically going to my ear and finding nothing but blood. Panicking, I grasped blindly, but my hand just got stickier._

" _Ho-Chi?" Noriko asked after a moment. "Ho-Chi?"_

 _I shook my head, returned to Masashi, kept trying to shift the things that were pinning him down, but with little success. The smaller pieces were heavy, but manageable, the larger ones, I couldn't shift at all, not with one hand sticky and the other trembling uncontrollably._

" _Oh you know what, forget it. Just run!" Masashi said, exasperated._

" _But-"_

" _I don't think I'm gonna be able to frigging walk anyway, my leg's been fucked up by this and it hurts like a bitch, but-"_

 _All of a sudden, there was a loud boom, and he was cut off. He twisted around and tried to look for the location of the sound, but grimaced and gave up, and fixed his gaze on us._

" _Go. Just go. I'll drag myself out somehow!"_

"Soooo….you were talking about food just now, weren't you?" Noriko asked, dragging me back to the present.

"Yes, we were." Akira agreed. "We were thinking about what to make for our picnic when we get back."

"Oooooh!" Noriko was almost salivating, and I rolled my eyes. "I know what we should make…"

She then reeled off a long, enthusiastic and somewhat incomprehensible list of foods, but then she paused.

"Wait, what about snacks?" she asked. "Snacks are great for picnics."

"We can make things and have snacks, that's no problem. There's more than enough to make everyone happy, I think." Akira replied.

"Yeah, a mixture of things is the best way to go." I said.

"Hmmmm…." Noriko thought. "It's so hard to choose…."

"Holy bananas, it's not like we're making food for the entire street!" Masashi said.

Noriko grinned cheekily at him, and he rolled his eyes.

"I have no idea what you're thinking," he told her. "But I am almost 100% sure that it's freaking _bizarre_."

I laughed at that, and then we continued debating the finer points of picnic food, and for a while, I could forget the reasons why we were here.

 **…**

 _Akira_

"It's too quiet here." I found myself observing eventually.

I'd been more than aware of what Hope's Peak had become, it was not a surprise to me at all, and yet once I had arrived, I had been taken aback by this field of daisies. It looked exactly how I'd expected it to look, but something hadn't felt quite right. And now I realised what it was.

"What?" Masashi gave me an odd look.

"What do you mean?"

"You just said 'it's too quiet here'" Masashi said.

 _Oh, I said that out loud. Whoops, never mind._ At my lack of response, Masashi gave me another odd look.

"Mate, with these two babbling in our ears it's anything but quiet." He said, pointing at Noriko and Hokuto.

"I don't mean literally…."

I paused, and thought of how to describe it. Underneath the noises that we were making as we made our way to the centre, and the noises of the wind, and the occasional bird, and the traffic on the roads (which were very distant now), there was a sort of hush. The closest I could think of was the hush that came when the first snow fell in the winter, but it was a little different to that. It was…a little more nothingier, if that was even a word.

 _When I tried to get up, I couldn't move my leg, and the arm that I'd landed on hurt too. Everything hurt._

Did I break them, _I wondered, trying again, and failing._ Yes, I broke them. What now…?

 _Using my good arm, I tried to pull myself forward, all too conscious of the walls and everything falling around me, and the things that had already fallen, blocking the path. But I tried anyway, and managed to get myself a few centimetres forward, but the strain was too much, and I had to pause, to think of a different way. Carefully, I twisted around, looking to see if anyone was behind me who could help me-I didn't want anyone running back to get me, after all._

 _Then, there was an exploding pain in the back of my head, a loud explosion, the screams of my remaining classmates, all at once._

 _And then, nothing._

The three of them were all staring incomprehensibly at me when I finished attempting to explain. I sighed, and shook my head.

"Actually, never mind, it's not a big deal."

"Maybe it's just the memories." Hokuto suggested warily. "I mean, I don't know about you, but I've been flashing back a lot here."

"Yeah, so?" Masashi asked.

"Perhaps that's what Kita-kun's thinking of, except it's not a flashback, it's….actually, that doesn't make sense."

"No, it's not flashbacks. I've had those as well." I said. "But really, it's fine. I'm not unduly…upset by it, or anything."

Just unsettled, and something else I couldn't quite name. I sighed, and looked around me at the vast expanse of the daisies. Then, I looked over to the three of them, who were still giving me concerned looks.

"I'm fine, really." I reassured. "So….does anyone else have any other recipe ideas?"

 **…**

 _Wakana_

 _I could feel small bits of something colliding into me from behind as I ran, sharp shocks running up my back with each new one, excruciating, but not quite enough to make me stop, even though my breath rattling in my chest and there was a stitch forming in my side._

 _Things falling either side of me, I kept going as fast as I could, but eventually I needed to stop, and so I did, ducking out of the way of another large piece of concrete whirling past, gulping in huge ragged breaths, and then looking up, only to see calm blue skies. I understood what that meant instantly, but I still stared, confused. I sniffed the air, listened carefully, but I did not hear any screams or shouts apart from those of my friends, the air was mostly clean._

What…what does this mean? _Before I could think of an answer, I had to jump out of the way of more falling debris, and then automatically, I started running again._

It felt like we'd been walking for a long, long time. My feet were starting to ache a little, and despite how little resemblance this place bore to what it had once been, I'd been overwhelmed with memories wherever I'd looked. So many, many memories. I was glad that I'd come with the others, at least. I was glad that I was here with Tyson.

"I need to stop a moment." I told him.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sure, my feet are just a little achy…"

I let go of his hand, and stopped, lifting one foot up to rub it a bit, then putting it down and doing the same with the other.

"Wakana-Chan?" Chieko asked, coming up to me. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, really, just needed to stop."

"I don't blame you, I'm starting to get a little tired. Why not drink some water?"

"Maybe, but I think I'll be fine after a moment." I said, before I glanced over at Shizuka, who looked a little annoyed.

"Shizuka-Chan, are you tired?"

"Noo…I wanted to play with them, but Mummy said no."

Shizuka pointed to Hokuto and Noriko, who had now stopped running, and were just walking with Masashi and Akira, apparently teasing the latter.

"She saw them racing each other and wanted to join in, and I said no because I didn't want to lose sight of her." Chieko explained wearily.

Shizuka narrowed her eyes at her mother.

"I know that Mummy, it just isn't fair." She declared, pouting.

Tyson chuckled at that, and Shizuka looked warily at him.

"I'm sure you'll get a chance to run around and play later, but you can't blame your mother for being worried here, can you? It's such a big place, I'm sure I'd be lost if I wasn't with someone."

Shizuka regarded Tyson with some suspicion, then nodded slowly.

"I guess so."

I ruffled Shizuka's hair and smiled at her.

"Anyway, let's keep walking." I said. "I'm fine now."

"Yeah, sure." Chieko replied.

So we did. Soon, we caught up to the others, and we were all walking together at the same pace again. We chatted a little, but soon it gave way to silence as we walked, and walked. Another long, long time went by, and everything looked the same, but then…

"Hey, that's a wall!" Hokuto exclaimed suddenly.

She was pointing to a fragment of wall that was some steps away, apparently facing us. There were others of different sizes nearby to it and further away from us. And looking closer, there were bits of concrete flooring, too.

We were here.

 **…**

 _Chieko_

I stared at the fragments of wall and floor, at the vines of different plants breaking through and winding around and around. In some places, the daisies were poking through cracks on the floor. Hesitantly, I let go of Shizuka's hand, and took a few steps out to touch the nearest wall. It was solid, rough. Real. What part of the school had this been? Had it been a part in which we'd once been happy? Or was it one of the parts that had been specifically tainted? With only brick and concrete left, it was hard to be sure.

"Do you see that concrete patch there?" Akira asked, pointing.

I looked over, as did the others.

"Yes…." Hokuto said. "Why, what is it?"

"It's all the underground things. The courtroom…."

"Oh." Hokuto said, stunned. "Oh."

Which was about the sum of my reaction, except that I could feel Shizuka bouncing restlessly next to me. Which was fair-as curious this must have been to her, it still wasn't much fun watching seven adults wandering in a field and reminiscing about things that were incomprehensible to a six year old, and I'd been keeping her close all this time. _And if I watch carefully, it'll be fine._ So I turned to her.

"You can run around a little, if you want." I told her. "But don't climb on any of the walls or anything like that, and make sure I can still see you."

"Okay, Mummy!" she said, running off immediately.

She crossed the concrete patch that Akira had just pointed out, then went to a corner that was all that remained of another part of the building, and jumped and skipped and just ran around in her usual way. I watched her.

"If that's….that place." I said. "Then we're right at the centre now, aren't we?"

I took my eyes off Shizuka to look back across at the expanse of daisies.

" _Help us! Please, help us!"_

" _Here, over here."_

 _I grabbed Wakana's hand and ran towards the people who had been rushing towards us. Just as we got close to each other, I heard the screeching of tires, and noticed two vans of some sort rushing towards us, and I stopped, frozen._

" _Ambulances." Wakana gasped._

 _I realised that she was right, going by the colour and the blaring lights atop. They stopped some feet behind the people who had now approached us._

" _Are either of you hurt? Where are your classmates?"_

" _We're…fine, not hurt, but our friends…Kazama-Chan, he got hit and…." Wakana said, in a rush._

" _He's unconscious." I added, feeling myself shake. "And Kita-kun, his leg, something happened, and the others…."_

 _I shivered, wrapped my arms around myself. It wasn't even cold, but I couldn't stop trembling. I tried to speak, to call out to Hokuto and Noriko and Tyson, who I could hear, talking to other people who had rushed over to them. One of the people who had approached us turned and yelled to yet more people, before rushing off to join them. I didn't know what was going on, what was happening, just that I was shaking and shaking, and then-_

 _Suddenly, I felt and heard a crinkly silver blanket being wrapped around me, and the person who remained with us gently put a hand on my shoulder._

" _It's okay now, it's okay, You're safe now."_

At some point without me realising, the others had gathered close around me. Wakana linked arms with me, a quick glance showed me her other hand was gripping Tyson's. On my other side, Masashi stood, not exactly touching but still very close, with an arm slung loosely around Akira's neck in a matey sort of way. Hokuto had propped her arm on top of Akira's shoulder, and Noriko stood next to her. Shizuka was still giggling joyfully as she shot out in front of us, dancing around in the daisies.

"Mummy, can you still see me?"

"Yes, I can!"

"Okay, that's good!" she said, without missing a beat as she kept spinning.

We watched her, oblivious to the extent of the weight that this place held for us, filling the silence with laughter. Apart from the breeze, she was the only sound there.

"We're alright, aren't we?" Akira asked eventually, breaking that almost-silence. "We're all alright now."

"Yeah." I murmured. "We are."

* * *

 **So many flashbacks. .Flashbacks. But I had a ton of fun with writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoy reading it.**


	72. Scraps of the Past 16

**In honour of my birthday, I have decided to not just put up one extra update, but two extras! The second extra will be up in a few moments, and there will definitely be a normal update on Sunday. So, erm, yeah, enjoy!**

* * *

The moment they were out of the lecture theatre, Misa Akamine turned her phone back on again and found an out-of-the-way corner, willing it to hurry up.

"Hey, Misa-Chan, what are you doing?" One of her friends asked curiously.

"The news." She said shortly, not bothering to look up at her friends as they followed her.

"The news? Oh, wait, this morning! Shit! Wait, my phone's on, I can get to the internet before you."

This made Misa look up for a moment, and she frowned at her friend.

"You kept your phone on?"

"Duh. You know you don't actually have to listen to Prof when he gets all cranky about phones. As long as it's on silent and you're not looking at it while he's talking, it's fine."

"Hmm."

Misa couldn't think of anything else to say in response to that, so she just looked back down at her phone, relieved to see it was on. _God, it's so slow!_ As fast as her nervous, fumbling fingers would let her, she tapped in her password to unlock the phone, and then opened the internet browser, cursing how slow it was.

 _Argh, what's_ wrong _with it today?! I should have just gone straight back to my dorms today, at least I could've kept up with the news. I wonder if I should call Dad, maybe he'll know if anything's happened since this morning…but no, he's at work. I can't just call him away like that…maybe Chieko will be fine. She has to be fine._ Misa didn't know what she would do if her little sister, who had always more or less been her voice in childhood, was _not_ fine.

"What are they saying about the riots?" another friend asked. "I'm kind of worried about getting home if it's too rough out there?"

"Oh, it doesn't look like anything too major's gone on here, though there've been a few arrests here…" came the reply.

Misa half listened as her small group of friends chatted about the events that had been all over the news that morning, all while she waited for her phone to do something and let her look at the news…only for an error message telling her there was no signal to come up. _I give up._

"Hey, Reina-san, could you see what they're saying about Hope's Peak, please?" Misa asked.

"What, playing up again? You should get a new one. Anyway, sure."

 _I don't need a new one. Most days, this one's just fine,_ Misa thought frustrated, tensing up as she watched Reina tap efficiently.

"Oh, okay, this article's from an hour ago! So…oh, that doesn't look good."

"What doesn't?" Misa demanded.

Reina turned the screen to her, showed her a series of blurry photographs of Hope's Peak, surrounded by various masked figures holding weapons, keeping guard. In one of the pictures, there was also a small knot of Hope Valley High students fighting with what she assumed was the police. _Well, that doesn't look good._

"Can I take this?" she asked instead of voicing her fears.

"Yeah, sure. It's about your sister, isn't it, that's why you're all jumpy."

"Mmm."

"Hell, you must be so worried…I hope she's okay." One of her other friends said in an attempt to be comforting.

"Mhm."

Once again, her other friends started discussing things, while she concentrated on the article, scouring it carefully. There were some other pictures halfway down the page, of police leading away people from a Hope's Peak side entrance, and she vaguely recognised them as people in the years above Chieko. But she didn't see anyone from Chieko's class, let alone Chieko herself. _But maybe that doesn't mean anything, it could just be a coincidence…_ She took a deep breath, and scrolled down to continue reading.

And then, her heart stopped.

' _The most recent class to join Hope's Peak, Class 78, are still trapped in Hope's Peak along with Ms Yukizome, and their status is unknown.'_

"What?" Misa's hands started to shake, and she struggled to hold onto Reina's phone. _What…I don't…_

"Huh? Misa-Chan?"

"I…Chieko's class…" Misa tried to get words out, but couldn't.

Her friends crowded around her, asked her more questions full of concern, but she couldn't answer them no matter how much she tried. And then suddenly, her knees gave way, her vision gave way, and she couldn't hear them anymore, so it didn't matter anyway.


	73. Killer Moments: Hironori Nobunaga(FINAL)

Hironori had been lying when he'd said he hadn't wanted to talk about his video.

Well, not exactly _lying_. It was true, that he didn't want to reveal what had been on there (at least, not at that moment). But the vaguely sorrowful expression he'd affected, the slight turn away as if choked up, the implication that he was horrified senseless by what he had seen-those were all lies. The conclusion that people would naturally come to from his fakery, the conclusion that he'd deliberately made sure they'd come to, that was a lie.

Because Hironori's video, it hadn't been a video. It had been minutes of blackness. Other people had had videos of their parents, siblings, friends, other relatives, people with names that had been gasped or whispered or cried out as each person had watched their videos. Hironori had had nothing.

And that was what had decided things for him.

Using his lie to gain him some undisturbed solitude, he'd hurried away to his room, found what he'd needed, and tucked it away into the first aid kit he always carried with him. And then, after a suitable amount of time, he came out, and mingled, and though he had no interest in pretending that this entire situation didn't amuse him, he kept back his specific killing intent. _No sense in exposing myself before I can have my fun, is there?_ Hironori reasoned. And from there, the killing game became a waiting game.

It was frustrating, and more than a few times he thought about engineering a situation to trip someone up, or at least accidentally knock them into something, just to hurry things up. _But that'll be too obvious, wouldn't it? Need to make them work to figure it out, after all._ So he waited, and waited, and whiled the rest of the rest of the day away, until suddenly it was close to the time that the robotic bear had designated at 'Night Time' in his arbitrary rules, and nobody had made themselves an easy target.

 _Oh well,_ Hironori shrugged to himself, _there will always be tomorrow._

He responded generically to a few kind 'good nights' from the more well-intentioned classmates he had, and was just about to open his bedroom door when he heard it. A shriek, a crash, and then a loud, piteous wail.

"Are you okay?!"

"I…I hurt my knee!"

Interest piqued, Hironori turned around to see where the sound was coming from. He quickly spotted Shiro, sprawled out on the floor, crying as Noriko sat next to her, trying to calm her down, and looking nervously at Shiro's knees-one of which was bloodied.

 _Yes, at last. The game begins._ He fixed a smile on his face, gripped his first aid kit, and walked right over.

"Ah, ah, don't worry, Usami. I am here after all, I'll get you fixed right up..."

* * *

 **Hironori is so problematic I can't even...but anyway, I actually had a lot of fun writing this at the time, I've been excited to release his Killer Moment chapter for a while now. And now I have, that's all the Killer Moments done. Just two more Scraps and an unidentified number of normal chapters left.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this Friday double update! As always, please leave reviews!**


	74. Winding Down

_Chieko_

It was as if I had just made a spell. Not one that lifted away the pain of the last seven years, not one that somehow made everything perfect again. But something life affirming, like a promise of what would come, a confirmation of what we'd all been working towards. Being alright again-with each other, with ourselves, with what had happened to us.

We were alright. And we would be better.

I was reluctant to move away from everyone else, or even to say anything, not because I thought it would break the spell, but I just wanted this moment. This quiet moment of knowing. And in taking a quick glance at the others, all lost in their own thoughts as they looked out towards the daisies, it seemed like they wanted it, too. So we remained as we were for a while, until Shizuka ran up to me.

"Mummy!" she exclaimed, hugging me.

"Hey," I replied, hugging her back. "Are you tired now?"

"Mmm, a bit."

"Let's have some water and rest a bit, then we can make our way back." Akira suggested.

"Yes, that's a good idea," I said, nodding at him. "Let's do that."

The moment ended, just like that, as everyone let go of each other and went to sit down. _But it's fine, because we're alright now._ I went and sat down next to a large chunk of reddish wall, leaning up against it. Shizuka plopped down next to me, and I handed her the bottle of water to drink. As I waited for her to finish, I noticed that Tyson, after a moment of sitting, had got back up again, and was wandering around, holding up his phone.

"What are you doing?" Noriko asked, echoing my very thoughts.

"Taking photographs." Came back the reasonable sounding answer as Tyson continued.

"But why?" Hokuto asked.

This made him pause and turn back around to us.

"Well….I want to take some of this back with me. It's still a part of my past, after all. I thought, maybe it'd be interesting to paint. That, and…"

"And..?" Akira gently prompted.

"I thought having some pictures may help me figure out what could be done with this space?"

"What do you mean, what could be done?" Masashi wanted to know.

"It's a bit of a waste, isn't it? Just being like this." He said, gesturing.

"Yes, that's true." Akira nodded.

"So you're going to…what? Build something?" I asked. "How would you even get permission for that? The Future Foundation owns the land, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Akira replied. "But I don't know what they'd think of something like this. You'd just have to ask. "

"Indeed, and there's nothing to lose. I just need an idea, then there's something to actually ask about."

"Ehh, well, if anyone could do it, it'd be you anyway." Masashi said after a moment.

Tyson smiled and nodded slightly, and then continued his little photography circuit, such as it were.

"Hey, what part of the school do you think this is?" Noriko asked after a few moments, gesturing to where she was sitting, in what appeared to be a corner of a long-gone room.

"I don't know." Wakana shrugged, looking around at where she was sitting, near to a bit of wall which may have once held a window, from the shape. "Maybe the foyer, or the gymnasium?"

"Maybe…" I said. "What else was downstairs?"

"The kitchen, a couple of classrooms, the garbage area…our dorms." Masashi listed after a moment.

We debated for a few minutes, and eventually I sighed, and leant back against the wall.

"I guess there's no real way to tell, is there?" I asked. "I mean, there's almost nothing here. How could we know?"

"Yeah, I guess….but I still wonder." Noriko said.

"That's understandable." Tyson said, coming back and sitting down next to Wakana.

"Yeah…" Noriko frowned, then suddenly perked up again. "Hey, maybe if there were ghosts here, they'd know?"

"Why the f-I mean, why on earth would there be ghosts showing up in broad daylight?" Masashi asked incredulously.

"There are ghosts?" Shizuka asked, slightly tremulous. "I don't like ghosts."

"Oh, yikes, sorry!" Noriko said, eyes wide as she took in Shizuka's reaction. "They wouldn't be scary ghosts, trust me."

 _Well, that's up for debate._ But Shizuka looked up at me, and I sighed, hugging her.

"No, there aren't any ghosts here." I said. "And like she said, even if there were, they would not be scary."

"But how do you know?"

 _And, here it is._

"Our friends, from this school. " I took a deep breath. "Your daddy. They would be the ghosts."

"Daddy?" Shizuka's eyes went saucer-wide, and she wriggled out from under my arm, standing up and looking around her. "Daddy…died here?"

"Yes, he did."

"And my sister, and Wakana-san's best friend, and yes, like your mother said, our classmates." Akira elaborated, quietly.

"How?"

This was almost a whisper.

"Come here, Shizuka." I said, not wanting her to be standing like that, looking all lonely despite the fact we were all around her.

Shizuka came back to me, and I pulled her onto my lap. She twisted around to look at me, sober expression on her face.

"You know how I told you that the school collapsed?" I asked.

Shizuka nodded, warily.

"When it did, our class-me, Daddy, the others here, and everyone else-we were still trapped inside the building, and we were trying to get out."

This, of course, missed out a lot of the steps it had taken to reach this point, but this was all I could do for now. And it was all that she really needed to hear right now. There would be plenty of time to fill in the gaps.

"We were trying to get out, and not all of us managed. The seven of us here-we're the lucky ones." I concluded.

"Why wasn't Daddy lucky?"

 _He was supposed to be. That was his title, after all. Even if all it meant was that his name was picked out of a lottery, that luck should have meant something. I don't know why it didn't._

"I don't know, Shizuka. I really don't know. It's just how things turned out."

"Ohhh. Can I ask?"

"What?" I blinked.

"Daddy's ghost. Can I ask him?"

"Oh….Shizuka." I had to blink back tears. "There aren't any ghosts, not really. We were just wondering what it would be like if there were. But…there are no ghosts here."

 _I wish there were, though. I'd be first in line to ask him-what were you thinking? Why? Oh, I'd definitely be the first in line for that._

"But that's not fair!" Shizuka said.

Her face downturned rapidly, and she looked on the verge of crying. Quickly, I hugged her to me, rubbing her hair, muttering soothing things. _Oh, I know it's not fair. I'm sorry._

I looked up to see Noriko looking at me with a look of abject horror. _I'm sorry_ , she mouthed, and I shook my head at her. It wasn't her fault.

"So, um," Akira said at that moment, standing up. "Shall we head back?"

"Yes," I said, getting up myself, carrying Shizuka carefully. "Let's do that."

 **…**

 _Akira_

Much to my relief, Shizuka calmed down enough by the time we got home. She'd spent the entire car journey clinging to Chieko and sniffling a bit, and she was still clingy as we walked back inside, but she brightened up considerably when I told her we were going to start cooking for the picnic and asked her if she wanted to help.

"Baking?" she asked.

"Yeah, we'll be baking things, frying things, just cooking in general." I told her. "And, it'll be a team effort."

"Ooooh." She said. "I want to do that!"

"Good, good, I'm glad to hear that."

"Let's go put our stuff away, and get your hands washed and hair tied back, okay?" Chieko asked.

"Okay!" Shizuka said, now fully cheerful again.

As Chieko led Shizuka upstairs, she turned to smile at me. _Thank you,_ she mouthed quickly.

 _It's nothing, really._ I mouthed back before we reached the top and went our separate ways to clean ourselves up in preparation for the cooking. It had been hard, watching Shizuka grapple with what little Chieko had revealed to her of our past, and honestly, it _wasn't_ fair. It wasn't fair that Hibiki had died, that Koutarou had been the one responsible and that he'd died for it. It wasn't fair that any of this had happened in the first place. It wasn't fair that Shizuka's parentage was tied up in so much tragedy.

 _But, it is what it is, isn't it?_

Sighing, I finished up and headed downstairs, and found a couple of my recipe books. I flipped them open to the pages of some of the recipes I had in mind, and started pulling ingredients out and setting up chopping boards and grinders and other such things, and I was washing some vegetables when the others started to trickle in. Tyson, Noriko, Masashi, Chieko, Shizuka, Wakana, and then finally Hokuto.

"Okay, when I've finished washing these, you two can chop these vegetables, then Masa-san, you okay with tackling the meat, and Akamine-san and Shizuka, do you want to start with the dough? Wakana-san, Nanto-san, give me a moment, I'll find something for you to do soon."

The responses came immediately:

"Sure"

"Yeah, yeah, that's cool with me."

"Of course."

"That sounds fun, don't you think, Shizuka?"

"Perfect." I said, smiling. "Now, when I finish the vegetables, I will…."

I then went on to list some more things we needed to do, passing the newly washed vegetables and taking a moment to show the recipes I'd chosen to the others so they could refer to them.

"Holy bananas, we're practically cooking an entire restaurant!" Masashi exclaimed. "When are we going to have time to pack?"

"Oh. That's something I didn't think of." Chieko said, though with her arms almost completely covered in flour, it didn't look like she was going to be doing anything else any time soon.

I hadn't thought of that, either. I'd just thought of the seven of us (and Shizuka), all gathered together and working towards a common goal, and having fun in the process. I'd just imagined my kitchen all chaotic and messy and full of laughter as it was supposed to have been, for one last time.

"Well…let's draw up a rota-while things are cooking, if there isn't anything else to prep or clean, then perhaps a couple of us can go and cook while the rest hold the fort down here. I mean, I'll obviously be fine to keep an eye on everything, anyway."

"Sounds fine to me," Wakana agreed. "After all, we're making this picnic really special, right? So we have to go all out for that."

"I agree!" Noriko said.

"You just want more food." Masashi snarked back at her.

"So what if I do?" Noriko retorted.

"Food is always good." Tyson remarked.

"Ain't that the truth?" Hokuto laughed.

"Oh, let's just figure it out as we go along, it'll be fine." Noriko said, breezily.

I blinked. For a moment, it was like the distant few old days when the most interesting thing about our lives had been that we were SHSL students and when the worst thing in mine had been feeling inadequate for my talent and the whole thing of being mistaken for a girl. _If I'd known what was coming, I would not have cared so much about such petty, petty things._ I shook the feeling way, and turned my attention back to the situation at hand.

"Yes," I agreed. "Let's do that."

"We really are using up a lot of ingredients though, aren't we?" Chieko asked. "Isn't that an inconvenience for you?"

"It's not a big deal, doing more shopping. Besides, the leftovers will probably keep me in meals for days, I won't have to think about cooking or anything like that." I answered.

 _That, and it'll be a comfort to eat the food that we all made together. I can pretend the house isn't so empty, even if just for a moment._

"Oh, well, if you're sure."

She turned back to the dough, seemingly satisfied, and we all got on with what we were doing. As certain items went into the oven, others on the grill, and some things went to the fridge to set for the next stage of the recipe (or to just set, as in the case of a fridge cake whose recipe Noriko had suggested), Tyson went up to do some of his packing first, as he would be one of the first to leave, and then, eventually, Wakana went to wash her hands to do the same.

"Wakana-san, where're you going?" Shizuka asked, hopping slightly.

"I'm going to do some of my packing….." Wakana seemed to think for a moment, picking up on the fact Shizuka now seemed a little restless.

"Do you want to help?"

"Are you sure you want that?" Chieko interjected drily. "There'll be flour everywhere."

"Oh, we can clean up first, right?" Wakana said.

Shizuka nodded, and Chieko considered this.

"Well, while you're up there, you can pack your backpack, and make sure your toys are put away-and Wakana can help you pick out something to wear tomorrow, so then when I come up I can sort out all your other clothes, and my things too. Okay?"

"Okay!" Shizuka said.

"Okay then, let's go."

And with that, Wakana walked out with Shizuka. Chieko watched them go for a moment, and then turned to me, clearly aware that I'd observed the proceedings.

"Shizuka likes helping in the kitchen, but I think when it's not cakes or anything that has the possibility of being decorated pink and sparkly, she gets bored quickly."

"It's fair enough," I shrugged at her. "I think I had those priorities at six. Well, except for the pink and sparkly. Hibiki was all about that…though I don't think she'd admit it."

"No, she wouldn't, but she'd totally give herself away somehow." Chieko replied.

"Yeah, she'd always been heart-on-her-sleeve."

"Mhm. Anyway, I finished with the dough, what now."

"Ah, pass it over, I will show you."

Chieko did, and I talked her through what to do next, and we eventually finished the pastry it was to become, and put it in the oven along with everything else that was in there. I checked on the old items, then closed it again.

"You know, you did your best." I found myself saying suddenly, very quietly.

"Hmm?" Chieko asked absently.

"Over in the ruins. You did the best you could. That is to say….I can't imagine I would have done differently, if I'd been in such a situation."

"I….well. It doesn't feel like that." Chieko sighed heavily.

"I don't think there's any aspect of the story that she'd be happy about-I mean, what's good about it?" I pointed out. "But yeah, under the circumstances, you handled it well. Besides, it's not as if this is the very last conversation that you will ever have, is it?"

"Not by far…." Chieko pulled a face. "But, well….thank you, anyway. Hearing that helps, particularly from you."

 _Ah, here it is again, the old elephant in the room. But then again, it's kind of a small elephant now, I can just push it aside and continue. Because we're okay now. We'll be okay now._

"No problem."

"Heeeyy, what are you guys whispering about over there?" Noriko called over.

"Probably discussing how to make sure you don't eat everything before we even have a chance to try it." Masashi responded snarkily.

"Oi! I'm not _that_ bad!"

This sparked off another spat between the two of them. Chieko and I exchanged glances, and then burst into laughter.

 _Yes, we really will be okay._

 **…**

 _Wakana_

"Okay, you sort our your backpack first-you remember what you put in there, right?"

"Mhm." Shizuka said. "All my toys and things. What about Yosa?"

"What about him?" I said, glancing at the toy frog lying on the sleeping bag.

"Do I have to pack him away?"

"Well, do you want to?"

Shizuka shook her head.

"No," she said. "I sleep with him. "

"Well then, no need to pack him away. Just maybe…." I studied her bag. "Maybe in the morning put him in one of the outer pockets, so it's easier to juggle the backpack and the suitcase."

"Wakana-san, you don't juggle with bags." Shizuka informed me super-seriously.

I held back a smile.

"I just mean it will be easier for you."

"Oh, okay!"

Shizuka hopped over to her bag and started sorting out, and I went to the wardrobe, pulling out my suitcase and opening it up, then considering the things that were already in there. Then, I left it on a side and pulled down the clothes that I had hanging there, apart from one outfit, for tomorrow. I folded all the others, then stacked them on the bed, and went back to my suitcase to arrange what was in there. My hands brushed against the bags I used to wrap up the painting, and I paused for a moment, thinking. Then, I took everything else out of the bag, piling them next to the suitcase, so that only the wrapped painting was there.

"What's that?"

Shizuka peered over my shoulder curiously.

"It's just my painting." I said. "Are you okay? Do you need help with your packing?"

Shizuka just regarded me curiously.

"Your painting? Like the one Ty-san gave to Mummy?"

"Yes. He gave me one too."

"Oh. Who is it?"

I paused. _Is this my conversation to have? Even though this particular part of it all is my story?_ But then again, if Chieko hadn't ever wanted Shizuka to know anything, she would not have come with us to the daisy fields this morning.

"Would you like to see?"

Shizuka nodded, looking taken aback. I stood the painting up in the suitcase, and carefully shook the bags off, revealing the painting. I sucked in a breath, but tried not to make my emotions obvious-I hadn't looked at the painting since that first night, and to see how real the image of Daisuke looked…

… _Tyson-Chan, thank you for this. I'll make sure to tell you that again, before we go._

"Your friend?" Shizuka asked me, jolting me out of my thoughts.

I tried to focus on her, rather than the painting.

"Yes. My best friend. He…was a conductor." I started. "His name was Daisuke."

"You're a conductor." Shizuka said. "You make music, and then you do the stick-wavy thing when people play it, and that's conducting."

Despite myself, I couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Yes, that's right. But I wasn't before. Before, I just made music."

 _Because back then, Daisuke-Chan was there to conduct my pieces for me._

"We met when we were thirteen, and we worked together on our music a lot, and we became friends because of it."

"Ohhh, okay." Shizuka nodded at this, then studied the painting of Daisuke carefully. "He looks like an uncle."

I thought of Daisuke's siblings, Chikako and Ryuu. Daisuke would have liked to be an uncle to whatever children they would end up having at some point in the future, I knew that. _And he would have liked to be an uncle to whatever children I may have had, just like I would have loved to be an aunt to whatever children he may have had one day._

"I…suppose so. Is that a good thing?"

"I don't know." Shizuka shrugged. "It's not a bad thing."

I smiled a little at that, but I'd also had enough of this. Quickly, I pulled the bags back over the painting, and wrapped it up tightly.

"Do you need any help?" I asked her. "If you just give me a moment, then I can come over."

"No, it's okay Wakana-san, I can do it." Shizuka stated determinedly.

And though she had a lot of things scattered around her, it did somehow seem that in her own way, she was managing it. So I smiled, and nodded.

"Alright then, just let me know if you do need help, okay?"

"Okay!"

And then, I turned back to my own packing, making extra sure that the painting would be the most protected thing of all.

* * *

 **Most of the rest of their packing will take place off-screen, cos there's only so ways I can make scenes of people packing suitcases interesting lol. Anyway, as always, hope you liked this chapter!**


	75. Picnic

_Chieko_

When I came back down with Shizuka, Akira was piling plates and cutlery on the table. He turned to the open kitchen cupboard, and after some rooting around, he pulled out a packet of disposable cups, and when he turned around to put them on the table too, he noticed us.

"Oh, you're finished already?" he asked.

"Yes, we are." I replied. "Do you need any help?"

"Hmmm." Akira pointed to a blanket folded and draped over a chair. "Lay that out on the grass out there, maybe take some of the plates to hold it down until we all get there."

I glanced out. The breeze was only slight, but it was probably better to be safe than to be sorry.

"Sure," I said, before turning to Shizuka. "Come on, let's go."

I picked up one of the piles of plates, and Shizuka carried the blanket, and we went outside. Shizuka shook out the blanket unsteadily and attempted to lay it out in the middle of the garden. I pulled it a little closer to the door, and made sure it was flattened out properly, but for the most part let her do it, and just put the plates on top of it to keep it down. As we headed back inside the house, the others came down, and we drifted in and out, taking plates, cups, cutlery, other containers of food. Some of the other dishes, we set out on the table and covered, because we couldn't take everything out at once.

"Woah, we really did make a lot, huh?" Noriko realised.

"You can all take a little of any leftovers with you, for the journey." Akira said.

"Woah, isn't that jumping the gun a bit?" Masashi asked.

"Yes, that's true. Let's just enjoy the evening."

And once everything was out there, and we had sat down, we did just that.

 **…**

"Soo….back to normal life, tomorrow, isn't it?" Masashi said, stretching back. "Well, technically I only go back to work Wednesday morning, but it's the early shift soo….."

"Yeah, I'm only going back into work physically on Wednesday, but pretty much once you're all gone I will be catching up with work emails and the like." Akira said.

"Yeah, same…apart from the going into work physically bit." Hokuto laughed. "Unless you count 'walking downstairs' a commute."

"Nobody in their right mind would do that." Masashi snarked at her as he determinedly munched some pie.

"Living above your workplace does have its advantages." Tyson mused. "And yes, I am also properly starting work on Wednesday-I'll probably be too jetlagged to do anything by the time I get back home. "

"What time does your flight get in, then?" I asked.

"It's a non-stop one, so roughly 8pm Japan time, which is about midday at home." He said after a moment to consider it.

"Why is it one time in one country and a different one in another?" Shizuka piped up curiously.

"That's one for you, Hokuto-Chan." Noriko said instantly, grinning.

"Why me?" Hokuto asked, pretending to be cross. "That's not exactly complicated, it's basic science. But fine, I'll explain it. So, Shizuka-Chan, basically…"

I picked up my empty cup and Shizuka's empty cup and went into the kitchen to refill them with juice while Hokuto attempted to explain how time-zones worked and why. When I got back though, the subject appeared to have changed.

"You used to go into space?" Shizuka asked.

"No, that's what astronauts did." Hokuto said patiently. "I was an astronomer. I would look at the stars and planets from earth, using telescopes and other things."

I sat down, putting Shizuka's cup in front of her before taking a sip of my own juice. She didn't notice.

"Ooooh. Why don't you do it anymore?"

There was a pause at this. Hokuto gulped, and looked at us all helplessly. We all looked back at her-what to say? How to say it? I felt like we'd revealed enough of the sad past to Shizuka today, but it seemed almost inevitable we'd keep running up against it.

"Uh, well….times changed, I guess. I decided to start running our café instead, and it keeps me busy, and so I don't really have time to do….I have a telescope though, still. Maybe one day, you can get your Mummy to bring you to me, and perhaps if you stay the night I can show you different stars through the telescope?"

"Ooooh." The thought of getting to look through a telescope seemed to have banished all curiosity as to why Hokuto was no longer an astronomer. "Can I really?"

"We'll see," I told her. "I'll have to see when we have time. Take something else to eat."

"Okay."

"I think we really should make more of an effort to meet up more frequently, either way," Wakana said. "If not all of us like we're here now, then at least most of us. Perhaps next time you could all come to my apartment."

"Come to London." Tyson said. "I would love to show you around all the touristy things there, and my favourite places. And my shop-I would be honoured to have you all visit my shop in person. Though, there's no way I'd be able to put you all up in my flat."

"Relax, we know, it's a poky place. I'd be totally up for that." Noriko said.

"I would, too. Though naturally, you are all always welcome to stay here." Akira added.

"We should have been doing things like this already though, shouldn't we?" I asked. "We should not have left it this long."

They all looked at me-apart from Shizuka, who was busily pulling apart and examining some mini savoury eggs (which Tyson had exclaimed over when Akira'd pulled them out of the freezer, calling it a 'marvellous surprise' that they were available over here)-and there was another helpless pause. None of us could quite ask the question of _'why hadn't we?'_ aloud, because we all knew the answer. The one that had lain under the more everyday excuses of juggling commitments and putting lives back together all that. The true answer, which was also the reason we had all come to this point in the first place.

"But…" Wakana broke the silence eventually, "It's okay, isn't it? We met up now, and we'll do better going forward."

"Let's make that official." I suggested.

"How? Like a blood oath?" Hokuto asked.

"Isn't that a little too dramatic?" Akira asked.

"Let's make a toast, later." Tyson suggested.

"Yes, lets." Akira agreed. There was a pause, and then he smiled. "With biscuits, naturally."

We laughed at that. _Biscuit toasts, indeed. Perhaps it'll become a tradition, and even when we're old and doddering we'll still be making biscuit toasts._ The very thought of that made me feel warm, though I wasn't sure whether it was the idea of having our own goofy long lasting tradition, or the fact we'd be able to live long enough to have a goofy long lasting tradition. Once we calmed a little, Akira got up, holding his cup.

"So, anyone need a refill?"

 **…**

"Do you hear the phone ringing?" Wakana asked suddenly.

"What? Whose phone?" Hokuto asked.

"The landline, I think." She replied.

We went silent, listening closely, and sure enough, a faint ringing could be heard.

"Oh, looks like you're right." Akira said, through a mouthful of chicken. He took a moment to swallow it, then got up.

"I'll just go and see who it is, I'm sure I won't be long,"

"Ehh, it's fine." Masashi said, grinning. "Shoo."

Akira smiled, and then disappeared back into the house. A moment passed, and the phone stopped ringing, presumably as Akira picked it up. I couldn't hear him at all though, and so though I was a little curious, I turned my attention back to the food.

Another few moments passed as we all talked of nothing in particular, when the sounds of rushing footsteps caught my attention. Akira soon appeared, half-jogging, slightly surprised look on his face. We all looked up automatically.

"It's for you, Masa-san." Akira said, looking only at him.

"Me?" Masa spluttered incredulously. "Why? Who it is?"

"Yes you, because you're not answering your mobile, Kita-san." Akira said, answering Masashi's questions in order.

"Well of course I'm not answering it, it's in the bedroo-wait, did you say my _brother's_ on the phone?"

"Yes." Akira nodded gravely. "He didn't want to interrupt today, especially as you're leaving tomorrow anyway, but under the circumstances he thought it'd be best to let you know as soon as possible."

Masashi looked flummoxed.

"What does Nii-san want that he feels like he should tell me right now?"

"Well…" Akira shuffled uncomfortably. "Really, he should be the one to tell you."

Masashi frowned. Wakana reached over and touched his arm, and I felt a little odd. As if I should have been the one to do that, even though I had no special privilege over him. I tried to shake it off.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Go ahead, we'll wait."

"Nah," Masashi said, getting up. "Keep eating and stuff, just make sure you save stuff for me. Not that I'm going to take forever, I hope."

Masashi rushed inside, and Akira came back to sit down.

"So, what is it? Did his brother actually tell you what it is?" Hokuto asked instantly.

"Come now, Kazama probably wants Kita to be the one to have control over the news, whatever it is." Tyson said in a conciliatory tone.

"Pretty much, yes." Akira agreed, taking a piece of cucumber and dipping it in the sour cream and chive dip. "It feels a bit weird that Kita-san even said anything to me when asking me to get Masa-san."

"But it isn't anything bad, is it?" Wakana asked.

"No, no, actually it is-"

At that moment, Akira was cut off by a surprised yell from Masashi, a single word that somehow managed to carry all the way to us:

"HIKARI?!"

* * *

 **Yes, another cliffhanger so late in the story. I know. But this one is not going to be as dramatic, I think. You'll see what I mean in the next chapter. But anyway, this chapter is a fair bit shorter than I would've liked, but on the other hand making it longer would have been unnatural, and it ends at precisely the right moment. Next chapter will be longer though, I promise.**

 **Also, before I forget, I want to signal boost the fact that Shyjoker, a fellow DR SYOC character maker, has a Pat-reon for their art, which is very, very good, so if you are in the position to support them please consider it. They go by 'Shyjoker' on there as well.  
(Note: I hope typing it like this works because ARGHHHHHHH)  
**

 **So yeah, hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	76. To The Future

_Masashi_

After that outburst, I didn't know what to say. I looked at the phone, disbelieving. After all this years, could this really be happening?

"Hello? Masashi? Masashi?" Kazuki's voice said, sounding disembodied.

 _Oh, right._ Warily, I put the phone back to my ear.

"Did you…did you just say that you've found Hikari?" I managed to stutter out.

"Yeah…" Kazuki's voice was calm, almost too calm.

"Is…." My voice cracked a little. "Is she…alive?"

I remembered what our childhood home had looked like, when we were finally allowed back in it. A mess, everywhere. Bloodstains, from where Dad must have fallen. The garage door open and Hikari's bike missing. No clues to what might have happened to her, but no indications that it was anything good.

"Yeah. She is. She walked through the doors of the police station, a few hours ago, and then when the police worked out who she was, they contacted us, and she's here now, in my department. They're interviewing her right now, her and her husband."

"So she's safe? And remembers things? And wait, a _husband_?"

"Yes, she's married, apparently…" Kazuki laughed slightly, sounding disbelieving. "Yuuya Matsushita, he works in computing, does some translation too…"

"Okay, but how did Hikari meet him and where've they been?" I interrupted. "And just…"

I trailed off, not sure what I wanted to say or ask. It hadn't even fully sunk in yet. Kazuki laughed again.

"I know, it's weird, right? We're still finding things out, putting things together, but Hikari is fine…she's still struggling over what happened with Dad, but this Yuuya-san, he's made her happier. And…oh, hey, Kari…"

I blinked as suddenly Kazuki's voice became more distant, apparently talking to other people on his end. I heard a soft female voice responding indistinctly, and I thought, _Kari?_ I waited a few moments, straining to hear what was going on, but not being able to discern anything. As I did, I sensed a new presence in the room, and looked up to see that Chieko had snuck in at some point and was waiting quietly, looking down at her feet. As if sensing me look at her, she lifted her head.

 _Are you okay?_ She mouthed.

 _Yeah_ , I mouthed back, feeling myself blush. Then I heard Kazuki's voice speaking, and I hurriedly turned my attention back to the phone.

"Do you want to talk to her, for a few moments? We're taking a break at the moment, and the guys said it's fine." Kazuki was asking.

"I….um, sure." I had no idea what to say to that.

"Okay, Hikari, come talk to Masashi!" Kazuki called.

A moment passed, and then a new voice asked.

"Masa-nii-Chan?"

 _Hikari._ The voice was older, a little thicker and threaded through with hesitation. But it was unrecognisably her voice. It was Hikari. _Oh, fucking hell's bells, I'm going to cry, aren't I?_

"Where've you been?" I asked, unnecessarily gruff. "Do you know how worried we were?"

"I…Masa-nii-Chan, I'm sorry."

"Woah, wait, don't cry, it's okay….but, you're safe, right? This Yuuya Matsushita dude, he's good to you?"

"Yeah…." Hikari's voice wobbled. "Yeah, he's great. I didn't tell him about everything, at first, but he's always been so supportive and….hopefully you'll like him. "

"Yeah, hopefully."

I wasn't about to trust the dude until I could see him and size him up for myself, but I decided to keep that thought to myself for now.

"So, anyway, where've you been all these years?"

"Well, for the last few years, Germany. Dusseldorf. Yuuya's company transferred him there, soon after we got married. They transferred him back recently though, which is why I'm here now."

"Germany? Bloody hell. Guess those extra language courses you took in school came in useful, Kari." I said jokingly.

"Hah, told you they would." There was a slightly laugh in Hikari's voice now, and I was glad.

"That you did." I acknowledged, remembering.

I'd teased her about it, the decision to take the German classes along with all her usual lessons. As if learning English wasn't challenge enough, I'd thought, why would her school want to offer to make life more difficult? And why would she actively make more work for herself? That had been my thinking at the time. She'd not thought much of my opinion, and I had been secretly proud of how she persevered in learning, but I'd teased her about it anyway. I was glad that in the end, the lessons had been helpful.

Or partly helpful. What about before that? From the sounds of it, there had been some time before she'd met and married Yuuya Matsushita and moved to Germany. What had happened then? There was a part of me that wanted to know, and yet at the same time I didn't want to know. It was bad enough, knowing that she had witnessed Dad's murder all by herself. Yet the side of me that needed to know won out.

"Where were you before that, Kari?"

There was a pause as Hikari took a breath.

"I…well…." Hikari hesitated again. "Here and there, trying to keep under the radar. With everything going on, I didn't know where to go or what to…."

Hikari's voice wobbled again, and I hurried to soothe her.

"Hey, it's okay, we can talk about it later, yeah?" I said. "Like, tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Mhm…." Hikari said absently. I waited for her to ask where I was, why I couldn't come today, but she didn't. Instead, I heard her talking to someone else, and then suddenly:

"Oh, I think I have to go now. Kazu-nii-Chan's here now."

There was a flurry, and then Kazuki came back on the line.

"Hey, does Mum know Kari's back?" I asked as the thought popped into my head.

"Yes," Kazuki replied. "She does. She's at her volunteering gig right now, but she's going to come as soon as possible. Tomorrow, when you're all done with dropping the others off and things, I'll come get you. There's lots of admin and tying loose ends to be done, so there's no point you cutting your reunion short to come now. But tomorrow, we can have dinner or something together. "

"I just mentioned to Hikari that we should meet tomorrow." I said, internally breathing a sigh of relief.

 _Tomorrow_. It should have been a no brainer, the choice between seeing the sister who had turned up after seven years and the last night of a reunion with friends. Yet, it was a surprisingly hard choice to make. _A very hard choice to make,_ I thought, blushing again as I snuck a quick glance at Chieko, who was still patiently waiting.

I spent a few moments confirming the finer points of meeting up with Hikari tomorrow, and then I sighed.

"This is pretty unbelievable, isn't it Nii-san?" I asked.

"You can say that again." Kazuki sighed. "But it's the best thing too, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Anyway, you go enjoy what's left of your reunion, and I'll see you tomorrow. Apologise to the others for hijacking your evening."

"Sure, bye."

Kazuki hung up, and I stared at the phone for a good few moments, before setting it down.

"Are you okay, Kita-kun?"

I turned around to look at Chieko.

"Yeah, I am…why are you here anyway?" I realised I had no idea why Chieko had come.

"Oh," Chieko shrugged. "We heard you yell 'Hikari' from the garden, so…"

"I was that loud? Well…." I sighed. "As I'm sure you've probably figured out, they've found Hikari. And it's good news?"

"So she's alive? And safe?" Chieko asked.

"Yeah." I said. "And married, apparently."

At Chieko's slightly bug-eyed look, I sighed again, deeper this time.

"I have no idea either, but she seems happy about it so….well, I'll be meeting him tomorrow, so. Eh."

"That must be a relief for you." Chieko said, nodding.

"Too right about that."

There was a moment's silence, and we just stood there, a little awkwardly. In some ways, it didn't feel like much had changed between us, but a lot had. As far as trial dating went, we had not done anything yet, not least because Chieko wanted to find the best way to explain to Shizuka why my presence in their life would dramatically increase. But even so.

 _Oh, knock it off silly! Right now, you're still simply friends, enjoy it._

"So…." I eventually asked to break the silence. "You haven't all eaten everything, have you?"

Chieko laughed, a beautiful sound.

"No, no. Shall we go back then?"

"Yes," I said, relieved. "Let's go."

 **…**

 _Chieko_

Noriko and Hokuto pretty much ambushed Masashi as soon as we arrived back in the garden and sat down.

"So what was that about? What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, spill the beans! What on earth was that all about?"

"Holy moky, guys! " Masashi said. "Give a guy a moment, would you?"

He grabbed some chips, using one to scoop a large amount of dip, and scoffed them down quickly, before obliging Noriko and Hokuto by giving them a very quick run-down of what had happened.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Wakana exclaimed once he had finished.

"It is indeed," Tyson agreed. "I'm so pleased to hear that."

He also murmured something about being glad that there wouldn't be any need to add a new name to the memorial that stood in place of The Wishing Tree, but apart from a soft look Wakana directed at him, it didn't seem like anyone had noticed.

"Thanks, guys. It hasn't actually sunk in yet, not really. But yeah, I'm pretty pleased."

Masashi grinned, shaking his head a little disbelievingly, before taking a chicken strip and eating that, in a slightly more measured manner this time. Noticing Shizuka reaching over for a bowl of crisps, he swiftly picked it up and passed it over to her.

"Thanks, Masa-san!" she said. She took a few, and then proceeded to 'feed' them to Yosa, while still munching at her pastry slice.

"You'll basically be going from one reunion straight to another then," Hokuto observed. "So it's not really straight back to normal life."

"Huh." Masashi contemplated this for a moment. "You're right about that. Didn't think of it that way."

The thought seemed to relieve him, and I could suspect why. But whatever conflict he had been feeling, he seemed to shake off quickly, and soon enough the subject changed.

"So," Akira proposed. "Anybody for dessert?"

 **…**

Time went by and we soon polished off the deserts that we had (as well as some of the other food, even after that), and we chatted a little more, and then eventually, I decided it was time to get Shizuka to bed, and got up..

"Already, Mummy?" Shizuka asked appealingly.

"It's well past your bedtime, and we have to get up early tomorrow." I told her.

Shizuka looked like she was about to object passionately when Akira spoke up, holding his camera.

"How about a picture before you go up?" He suggested.

"Who's going to take it though, so we can all fit in?" Wakana asked.

"Selfie, obviously!" Noriko answered cheerfully, making Masashi splutter.

"What about a selfie with all of us, and then Shizuka could take a photograph of the seven of us?" Akira suggested.

I looked over at Shizuka, who was bouncing in excitement.

"Straight to bed afterwards, okay?" I told her.

"Yes Mummy!"

She sat back down again while Akira fiddled with the camera and the others debated who had the longest arms. After deciding that it was probably Tyson, the camera was handed to him, and we all huddled in so we'd fit into the picture.

"Argh, you're squashing me!"

"Sorry, Ho-Chi!"

"Okay, ready?"

"READY!"

The camera clicked, and we waited a moment before un-huddling. I let out a breath.

"Did the picture turn out okay?" Akira asked.

"Yes, I believe so." Tyson said as he handed the camera over.

Akira checked it, and then with a smile showed it around, before beckoning Shizuka over to show her how to use the camera. I watched them carefully at first, but Shizuka seemed fine, so I left them too it, and after a few moments Akira gave her the camera and sent her to stand in front of us to take the picture as we arranged ourselves.

"Step back a little, you're too close." I told her.

She obediently stepped back a couple of steps.

"Is this okay?" she asked.

"Yes, that's fine." Akira told her. "Are we all ready?"

"Yep!" Noriko said.

"Yeah, I am." I agreed.

The others chimed in with similar agreement, so we all turned and waited for Shizuka. Carefully, she pressed the button, and it clicked.

"Okay, that's done. Bring it back now." I told her.

Shizuka nodded, and yawned as she returned the camera. I smiled to myself, and got up.

"Alright, now you're going to bed."

Shizuka started to object, but was cut off by another large yawn, so I told the others I'd be back as soon as I could, and took her upstairs.

In the end, despite the fact she still seemed determined to stay up, her tiredness won out, so getting her to bed wasn't too much of a big deal. There was a moment when we were both startled by the sound of someone manically rushing down the stairs, but apart from that it was smooth-going, and as soon as Shizuka was snuggled into her sleeping bag, she was out like a light.

When I had snuck back down, Hokuto was grinning like a loon, apparently hiding something behind her back and refusing to show the others what it was. I also noticed that the paper cups had been tidied away, only to be replaced by glasses, and that there were two bottles of what appeared to be wine or something similar.

"What's going on?" I asked cautiously as I sat down.

"Now she's here, I can show you all!" Hokuto proclaimed, apparently aiming this particularly at Noriko and Masashi, who just rolled their eyes and spluttered, respectively.

"Okay….?" I said.

Hokuto just grinned, and whipped the object out from behind her back, and we all crowded around to see it. It appeared to just be a piece of paper, and I wasn't sure why this was so exciting until I realised that it was a photograph.

And not just any photograph.

" _No! But what about a group photo, before we go?" Noriko said suddenly, digging into her bag for something._

" _Why?" Masashi asked._

" _We are all getting dropped off to different places." Tyson pointed out._

 _Noriko beamed at him._

" _Exactly, so we may as well do it quickly-ah!" Noriko turned to Naegi and Togami and the others. "There is time for that, right? It shouldn't take long."_

" _If you must, then do it." Togami answered briskly._

" _It's no skin off of my nose." The driver added._

" _Ah, if you'd like, I'd take the photograph for you." Naegi offered._

" _Yes please!"_

 _Noriko handed the phone to him, and then suddenly I felt myself being dragged into position by her, all of us flailing to be included in the picture. Once we're ready-at least, ready as far as I can tell-Naegi smiles at us._

" _Alright then! Say 'cheese'!"_

" _CHEESE!"_

We all stared at the photograph from that day, agog.

"You had that with you?!" Masashi asked.

"Yup, I just realised it'd be in my purple box, so I went to look for it." Hokuto said proudly.

"Oooh, let's compare it then." Noriko suggested.

"Oh, that could be interesting." Tyson said.

Akira obligingly put the photograph Shizuka had taken on display and held out the camera so we could look at the screen and compare what was on there with the photograph Hokuto was holding.

Noriko was in the middle of it, one arm around me, the other around a somewhat unsteady, flailing Masashi who appeared to be mock-glaring at her even as he attempted to smile for the camera. Indeed, apart from Noriko, and possibly even Tyson (whose expression was a great deal more measured), all of us looked more like we were _attempting_ to smile, as opposed so actually smiling. Akira and Masashi were both on crutches, Hokuto's ear and Noriko's forehead were bandaged, and I could just about see the bandages around Tyson's hand, highlighting the fact of his missing finger. Both Hokuto and Noriko's roots were showing, but Hokuto's were more prominent, and Masashi's Mohawk had started to grow out a little. The clothes we were wearing were new, but too new. I didn't remember what I had felt about the blue jeans and red top I was wearing in that photograph, but though they looked like they fit well, at the same time I seemed supremely uncomfortable in them. But then again, I'd been more than uncomfortable in my own skin, my own head, back then.

And then I looked to the new photograph of the seven of us. It was on a smaller screen, so not as clear, but the differences were clearer to see. Asides from all the obvious appearance differences, we looked brighter, somehow. The smiles were not just attempted smiles, but actual, genuine smiles-hell, Noriko was even laughing. I looked more comfortable in my own skin-and knew full well I felt it, too-, as did the others. The scars and consequences of what happened to us were still there to see in varying degrees, plain as day, but they did not jump out and dominate the whole picture. It was just a photograph of seven happy young people, enjoying life.

And that was just how it should be.

"Well….." Tyson said after a moment. "That's well….time really flies, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it really does." I agreed.

We all stared at the two photographs quietly, thinking about things.

"Well, I'll get those sent to you, and if anyone wants them to be printed, I can do that for you as well." Akira said.

"That's fine, I can print it at home." I said.

"So can I." Tyson agreed.

"Yeah, it's cool, no need to go to all the trouble, Akira-tan." Masashi agreed. "Just send it to us, that's more than enough."

Akira nodded at that, and after turning off the camera, he set the camera down on the side next to him, and reached out for the two bottles that I'd noticed.

"So," he said. "Time for a toast?"

"Oooh, actual alcohol. You sneaky bastard, when'd you get that?" Masashi said wonderingly.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." Akira said, smiling in an unexpectedly wicked way. "In any case, there's alcoholic and non-alcoholic, so choose whichever. And also…"

As we poured our drinks, he opened a package that I hadn't noticed before, but quickly realised were biscuits once he started to pile them out on a plate.

"We can toast properly as adults, and in our traditional way." He explained.

"Of course we can!" Noriko laughed, grabbing a biscuit. "So, what are we toasting too?"

"To the SHSL Survivors." Tyson said.

"To being happy." Wakana suggested.

"To hanging out way more often!" Hokuto cheered.

"To us." I concluded. "To the future."

"I like the sound of toasting to the future-that includes everything, doesn't it really?" Noriko mused.

"It sure does." Hokuto said.

"So, to the future it is?" Akira checked.

It seemed like everyone agreed, so I picked up a biscuit with one hand, and my glass of non-alcoholic wine with the other. Everyone else followed suit, and then looked to Akira, who cleared his throat.

"To the future."

"To the future." We chorused.

Our glasses clinked, and then we tapped our biscuits together. And then we laughed, because we were happy.

And we would continue being happy.

* * *

 **Woooh, and here we are. Next three chapters will focus on everyone going home, and then once those and the remaining Scraps are up, the story is basically ended. But never fear, there will be epilogues! Multiple epilogues! I haven't decided the exact number, but it'll be no less than four and no more than six. Huge thanks to everyone who has been reading and enjoying and reviewing and all that for all this time!**

 **Also, Masashi's 'holy moky' is based on a typo I myself actually made on Discord a little while back. It was too funny to not save and use at some point, and what better point than one of Masashi's exclamations?**


	77. Scraps of the Past 17

Kimihiro Arata wasn't sure how he'd expected this situation to end, but he certainly hadn't expected that his class would be the only ones left, or that they would be herded back up the corridor and many stairs by various black-clad masked figures. And he certainly hadn't expected that Junko Enoshima would be the one leading it. He'd actually met her once (sort of), during a concert he'd done that a lot of celebrities had attended. He'd shaken a lot of famous hands backstage that day, and hers might or might not have been one of them-it had all been a blur. But still, Junko Enoshima, of all the people.

 _Still, I guess it doesn't matter that she's famous, the point is that she's clearly the head of that cult that's been wreaking havoc all year, and that she's got us here doing…what, exactly?_ Kimihiro looked around him, noticing that steel plate things had been affixed to the windows, and that they were passing more black-clad people affixing plates to other windows, or stripping the wallpaper and replacing it with some in god-awful patterns. _What in the…?_

"What the fuck?" Masashi spluttered.

"Yeah, what're you doing that for?" Noriko wanted to know.

"Ohh, that's for me to know and you to find out." Enoshima said haughtily. "With that being said, you'll find out soon enough. After all, you'll be helping them."

"What?" Chieko asked, frowning. "Why would we do that?"

"Because if you don't, I'll shoot you." Enoshima replied, very cheerfully. "And if-"

"You won't touch her."

Koutarou's quiet snarl cut through Enoshima's voice, and she stopped her speech, startled, coming to a halt. The sudden stop made Kimihiro almost bump into Akira's back, and he whispered a quick sorry. Then he turned to see who had bumped into him, only for a black-clad person to shove a gun at his face. Yashiro-the person who had been behind him-let out a soft gasp, and he could hear Shiro burst into tears again.

"Don't point a gun at my students! Don't you dare shoot them!"

Kimihiro turned to see Yukizome-who'd been half-dragged by two of the black-clad men-squirming and glaring at a third figure of indeterminate gender who had lifted up their gun and pointed it at Koutarou, who was just staring at it, expression cold as he had stepped in front of a wide-eyed Chieko.

"Oh, shut it, I won't do it yet, not unless they try any funny business. You guys, hold on to her better, and you, put that down. Ueda-kun'll behave, won't you?"

Koutarou didn't respond to that, but his shoulders tensed. The person holding a gun to him put it down and returned to the side of their group.

"Anyway, as I was saying, if I do end up having to shoot you all, I'll be pissed, because then I won't be able to play the game. And it is of the utmost importance"

"Ahem, Ma'am…" Tyson had decided to speak up for some reason, and Kimihiro held his breath. "What exactly do you mean by a game?"

"Don't you worry about that, solider boy. That's also for me to know and you to find out." Enoshima giggled, an unexpectedly girly sound. "Though that'll be a lot later. For now, I'll show you your new accommodation, and get you all started on fixing things up-what, don't look at me like that, you think we can do it all alone? Besides, it's more despairing if you play a role in our demise."

"Our demise? Does that mean we're gonna die?" Erica asked eagerly.

"Do you need to say it like that?" Masashi muttered under his breath.

"No more questions!" Enoshima snapped, unexpectedly brisk and business like now. "We need to hop it, time is of the essence. Let's go!"

"Tell me what you're going to do!" Yukizome demanded. "I won't let you harm a hair on any of their heads, I'm telling yo-"

They had just started to move when they drew to a halt as there was a sickening crunch and Yukizome let out an ear-splitting shriek. Kimihiro didn't dare turn around, but plenty of the girls shrieked, and there were many gasps.

 _No._

"I said, no more _questions_. Besides, you're all air. I'll do what I want, and you won't be able to do a single thing."

Enoshima was all coldness now. She swept her icy blue gaze over all of them, eliciting a few whimpers, and making Kimihiro shiver. Once she appeared satisfied, she spun around and started marching forward. The black-clad people took up their positions either side of their procession, and the two handling Yukizome took up the rear, and they clambered up in near silence.

While they did, Kimihiro couldn't help but glance around to see how everyone else was faring. Most of them seemed to be in shock, and looked as terrified as he felt. Chieko was gripping the still angry Koutarou's sleeve and Hibiki was clinging to Akira (attempting to remain stoic, but still clearly troubled) like a slipper-limpet, while Shiro sniffled next to them. Noriko looked like she was going to cry, while Hokuto was stiff and tense, as was Oshiro. Daisuke and Tyson also seemed like they were trying to keep calm, but Daisuke's eyes were troubled and Tyson was vigilantly scanning the area for yet more threats- _well, who knows what else could happen, this situation's already crazy enough._ Masashi looked even more furious than Koutarou, and though Hideki looked angry too, it seemed like with him it was more because his sleep had been interrupted. If this had been a show or something, it would have almost been funny.

But Hironori and Erica were something else. The former looked mostly bored, slightly curious about what was going on, but otherwise uncaring, whereas the latter was as bright-eyed and fascinated about it all as she usually acted, whipping out her notebook and scribbling every so often. Then there was Yashiro, looking blank, as if shock had wiped all reaction from her, and Kanekatsu, just looking terribly, terribly sad. Not surprised, startled, afraid, or angry. Just sad, as if she was resigned to this.

 _But we could get out, right? Maybe we're being threatened and she keeps talking about our demise, but our capture was live-streamed, right? So police must know, they must be trying to get in to rescue us. Surely it'll be fine…._ On the other hand, Kanekatsu was smart. If she had come to a conclusion, she probably would have come by it properly. _So maybe…no, I can't think like that. It'll be fine, right? The police or whoever will rescue us, and we'll be fine._

Even so, that resigned look was possibly what scared him the most.

They continued marching to the top. Kimihiro patted Oshiro's shoulder when he was in danger of completely hunching over, tried to whisper some reassuring, friendly words in Shiro's and Yashiro's ears and give some of the others reassuring smiles, but otherwise remained as silent as most of the others, trying hard to quash the fear shooting all through him and coiling itself around every part of him. Gradually, they reached a section of the building which he knew contained old classrooms but was due to be renovated for some other purpose.

"And, here we are!"

Enoshima had stopped at one of those classrooms and had opened the door, grinning invitingly. They all exchanged looks with each other, but didn't dare refuse or ask anything, so after a moment, Akira stepped forward, and led them across the boundary.

Inside, the desks and chairs had all been stacked up higgledy-piggeldy at one end of the room, leaving the rest of the room empty. Along the walls of the empty side were shackles. Actual, metal shackles, affixed to the wall and with chains, like some old dungeon. _What on earth?_

"Well, don't just stand there, hurry up, get yourself in there!" Junko shrieked.

"….you want to chain us up?" Akira asked, perturbed.

"Well, of course. You really think I'm going to just let you all roam around when you're not working?! Come on, chop-chop! I'll even let you chain each other up, just to be nice! Though I imagine that makes it more despairing for you, which is honestly fine by me, hahaha!"

"No!" Yukizome said again. "You will not treat my students like… like animals."

"Dear sensei, you're so boring." Enoshima sighed. "Take her away, please. This'll get old so fast if I let her stay."

"But…" for the first time, one of the men had spoken, but before he could say another word, Junko had held up a hand.

"It's okay, I'll personally see to her…treatment. But take her away!"

The men complied without a word, Yukizome protesting all the way. Just before they went out of earshot, there was another resounding thump and another shriek. Kimihiro jumped, and Noriko started to weep in earnest.

"Oh, sweet Jesus." Enoshima rolled her eyes. "Hop to it, brats. Or do I have to get them to do it?"

Instantly, Kanekatsu walked over to one of the shackles, and knelt down by it.

"Kane." Yashiro gasped.

Kanekatsu looked up at her, and shrugged wearily.

"Well, it's not as if we have a choice." Akira sighed. "We have better chances of surviving if we comply as best as we can."

"I agree with you." Daisuke said.

"Oooh, how funny. Right, I'll give you five minutes, so hurry up."

Enoshima clapped her hands, and just like that, they all started moving towards the walls. Kimihiro wandered aimlessly to a corner, when he felt someone tap his arm. He turned to face Wakana.

"I…do you want to come with me and Daisuke-Chan? Maybe we'll feel better if we're next to each other." Wakana let out a shaky sigh as she said this, fear etched over her face even as she attempted to smile.

 _I don't know if it'll make any sort of difference._ But though now his heart was heavy, Kimihiro found it in him to return the smile and nod, and then they walked over to the shackles.

* * *

 **If anyone is curious as to why Kimihiro sounds somewhat normal in this chapter, it's because A: He hasn't just killed someone and B: He's not in love. Honestly, this guy only really has issues when he's love. Any other time, he's rather normal.**


	78. Goodbye, part 1

_Wakana_

When I woke up, the sun hadn't quite risen yet, but the sky still had some brightness to it. I yawned, more out of reflex than actual tiredness, and quietly got up. I felt well rested in a way that I found unusual, but also sad.

 _Because we're leaving today._

The day had always been coming, I knew that well. But I wanted it to last a bit longer. I wanted to be in a full, busy house for just a while more, put off arriving back to my comfortable but all too empty flat. But I couldn't do that, no matter how much I wished it, so I busied myself with getting ready, all while being careful not to wake up Chieko and Shizuka, though they'd be waking soon enough anyway. Tyson and I technically had to leave much earlier than everyone else due to his flight, and they could easily have slept for hours more but not a single one of them would hear of letting us go without saying goodbye. And Akira was insistent on being up to make a good breakfast for us as well, at least, so I thought the least I could do was let them sleep a little bit, even if it didn't make much of a difference.

Once I was ready, I left the room, and encountered Tyson as he left his room. I blushed a little, startling myself, but I quashed down any trace of any of that sort of feeling and smiled at him, and then we set down the stairs together.

"Good morning, Tyson-Chan."

"Good morning, Wakana. Did you sleep well?"

"I did. What about you?"

"I did too. Is Kazama downstairs?"

"I'm not sure." I listened carefully, and heard some bustling in the kitchen. "It sounds like it."

Sure enough, when we arrived, Akira was busy frying eggs, and some bacon. He had a loaf of bread out, but hadn't done anything with it.

"Good morning, Kazama-Chan! Does this need toasting?" I asked immediately.

"Huh?" Akira looked up, surprised. "Oh, no, that's fine. You both sit down, I've got this."

"Oh, but you've got up specifically for us and-"

"No, really, it's fine." Akira cut me off, and though he was smiling, I blinked, feeling surprisingly hurt.

"Well, it might be fine to you, which is fair enough," Tyson interjected. "But as well as being of help, I'd like us all to make breakfast together one last time. I've enjoyed our breakfast-making mornings together. Haven't you, Wakana?"

Now I blinked at him, and realised he was right. Those quiet, busy mornings where we worked together with our own efficient rhythm-that was part of what I was going to miss. I needed as many memories of it as I could get, to take with me, so perhaps I could play them in my mind over and over, and pretend that I was still happy with the way things were.

"Yes," I said. "I really have."

Akira looked slightly confounded for a moment, but then his face cleared, and he nodded.

"Well," he decided. "I cannot really refuse that."

 **…**

Once breakfast was finished and cleared away, Tyson and I went to drag our suitcases down the stairs and to the front door while the others lounged around in the living room. Akira and Masashi offered to help, but I waved them off.

"I can do it, it's fine, thank you."

"Well, if you're sure."

Once we were done, we joined the others in the living room, and I looked at my phone, waiting for the message.

"it took you a lot quicker than I expected for you to finish bringing everything down." Akira commented.

"Why?" I asked quizzically.

"Not you," Akira clarified. "Tyson-san."

"Oh yeah!" Hokuto laughed. "You're basically leaving with only half the luggage you came with!"

"Well now, I wouldn't say it was that much..." Tyson chuckled in response.

"Oh, it really was." Noriko retorted.

We chatted a few moments, and then my phone buzzed.

"Ah, he's here."

I sprung up, and Tyson followed. The others followed behind us, and then Akira stepped in front of us to open the door for us. The heat hit me almost immediately, and I instinctively fanned myself with my hand.

"Good morning," Matsui said as he climbed out of the driver's seat.

"Good morning, Matsui-san." I greeted.

"And good morning to you all too." He said, looking over to where Akira and the others had gathered by the door as he came to help us put our suitcases away.

"Good morning." Akira told him.

We made quick work of the suitcases, and then I went to say goodbye to the others.

"Ah, we had such a great time, didn't we?" Noriko exclaimed when she squeezed the life out of me in a hug.

"Yes, we did." I agreed.

Once all my goodbyes were done, and Tyson's were too, we went to the taxi, the backdoor of which Matsui had opened and was standing next to patiently.

"After you, Wakana." Tyson said.

I slid in obligingly, and Tyson climbed in after me, and we got our seatbelts on while Matsui closed the door and then got in the driver's seat.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes, we're good to go." I replied.

Matsui nodded, and started the taxi. In the doorway, everyone had started waving, so I waved back. And as the taxi moved further away, I turned myself around so I could peer out of the back window and see everyone still standing at the doorway, and I continued waving and waving until they were completely out of sight.

 **…**

 _Tyson_

 _My luggage really does feel lighter,_ I mused to myself as I took them out of the boot of the taxi. This was a somewhat obvious observation to make-after all, I'd managed to deliver the paintings, as I'd hoped to do. But it felt like I'd been freed of something more than the weight of paint on canvas in frames, too.

"I'll walk up to the queue with you," Wakana said. "You're okay with your bags though, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am, thanks. I'm not carrying the crown jewels anymore, after all."

Wakana laughed at that, and we headed into the airport. As I did, I looked at her, still thinking about weight and feeling lighter. _Well, maybe I've been freed of some things now, but I've picked up new things, too._ Not that those new things could be considered a burden or a weight. Challenging, yes, but not a burden.

We stopped some way from where people were queuing up to get their luggage checked and book into their flights, and watched them as I made sure I had my passport ready.

"So…" I said once I was sure.

"…time for you to go." Wakana finished.

"Indeed."

I made a step as if to go, but then hesitated. Wakana was still watching me, smiling broadly, ready to wave me off, but there was something sad about her eyes. It didn't seem right to leave the goodbye quite like that, so quickly, I stepped forward again, and hugged her tightly.

"Come visit me soon, won't you?" I asked as she hugged me back.

"Yeah, I will."

When I let go of her, the sad look seemed to have dissipated somewhat, so I grinned broadly at her, and saluted.

"Goodbye, Wakana."

"Bye, Tyson-Chan. Have a safe journey."

I nodded at her, and then I dragged my suitcases and went to join the end of the queue. When I glanced back, she had gone.

 **…**

 _Akira_

"Do you want to have a quick drink, before you go?" I asked Masashi as we went back into the house.

"Yeah, sure. Let me get my stuff down-and no, I don't need help, it's cool."

"Got it."

I left Masashi to bring down all his luggage while I went into the kitchen and poured us two glasses of orange juice, pausing to look at the boxes of leftovers crowding my fridge. Even with what I'd given for the others to take home with them, I had a lot left. _Well, at least it'll keep me in meals for a while._ Closing the fridge, I opened my freezer's ice-tray and plopped a few ice-cubes into our glasses-for it was very hot-before closing it again and taking the glasses to the table, just as Masashi came down.

"Oh, brilliant!" he exclaimed at the sight of the ice-cubes. "Exactly what I needed."

The moment he sat down, he grabbed the glass and practically slurped all of it down, leaving the two just-started-melting-ice cubes at the bottom of the glass, all in the time I'd just managed a few sips.

"Need some more juice to go with that?" I asked wryly.

Masashi grinned, which I took at confirmation, so I quickly went and refilled his glass before sitting back down. This time, he drank more slowly, and I continued to sip my juice, and we sat in silence for a little while.

"So," I asked eventually. "Are you off to see your sister now?"

"Yeah, that's right. I'm just dumping my suitcases at home, then I'm going to Nii-san's or Mum's…I'm not sure which, one of them should text me…"

Masashi paused to check his phone, then shrugged, putting it back.

"But yeah, then wherever it is, I'll be meeting Hikari and her husband…holy fu-bananas, that still feels so weird to say. Hikari's _husband_. Akira-tan, my baby sister has a _husband_!" Masashi realised incredulously.

"That must feel weird." I agreed, as neutrally as possible.

I could imagine Hibiki (and possibly Yasu for that matter) reacting in much the same way if and when I got married. _If she was alive, would I have been married by now? Or at least engaged to be?_ I could almost hear Hibiki shrieking ' _My baby brother's getting married!_ ' , and my exasperated retort of 'Hibiki, we're twins'-to which she'd probably remind me that there were minutes between our ages, and I did call her 'Nee-san' sometimes, so it counted.

 _I wish that could have happened._

"Do they have children? I can't remember if you said." I asked.

"No, no, no children. I think I'd explode if it turned out she'd had children in this time too….though, I hope I'll get to be an uncle someday."

"Indeed." I agreed neutrally.

 _Would I have had children by now as well, in another life? Oh well, there's no use wondering that now. The life I have now is the one I have. And that's fine. That's just fine._

We finished our juice, and I took our glasses over to the sink to wash alter, before going to see Masashi out.

"You definitely have to come and meet them at some point soon, okay?" he informed me as he put on his shoes.

"Well, of course, just tell me where and when." I replied.

Masashi grinned and mock-saluted me, and stepped out of the door with his suitcases. When he got to the gate he turned and waved at me, and I held up my hand in response, smiling. I remained at the doorway as he went through the gate and started to walk down the street, watching him, still smiling in case he turned around again.

Once he had completely gone, I let my smile fall away from my face, and I stepped back into the house. Closing and locking the door carefully behind me, I realised I still had my shoes on and hadn't taken them off when helping Masashi get his things out of the house. _Good job,_ I deadpanned to myself as I kicked them off, then bent down to place them more neatly in the shoe area, _good job._

About to straighten up, I paused instead and studied the shoes. It was a lot less cluttered now there were only the shoes I'd just taken off, a pair of trainers I used for running, and my much smarter work shoes. But the gaps made by the absence of all the other pairs of shoes seemed to glare mournfully at me. It was not neat at all, but _empty_.

 _This house is empty and silent, once again._

I stared a moment longer at the void, and then straightened myself up, and went up the stairs briskly. There was a lot of cleaning and tidying to do, empty house or not. I could not just stand around staring at shoes all day, no matter what I felt.


	79. Goodbye, part 2

**As mentioned in my status updates on my profile, the reason this is out early is because I am probably going to be out on Sunday. But anyway, hope you enjoy this!  
**

* * *

 _Masashi_

I pretty much left my suitcases in the doorway, and then headed straight back out again. I wasn't about to waste time on something like unpacking which I could easily do in bits and pieces over the next few days when I wasn't at work. Kazuki had texted me just as I'd turned the corner of Akira's road, to say that they were all meeting at Mum's, so that's where I headed.

 _Should I…buy something? I can't really go empty-handed._ But what, exactly, did you take with you when going to your mother's house to see the sister you hadn't seen for seven years and the husband you'd never known she'd had? I mentally debated this, but in the end just made my way to Mum's house without buying anything. I could always save that for when I visited Hikari's house for the first time.

When I got there, I knocked on Mum's door, and waited awkwardly. _This is it,_ I kept saying to myself, _the moment we've all been waiting for. This is it-_

"Oh good, you're here! Come in, come in. Mum's cooking, we're chatting in the living room."

My thoughts screeched to a halt as Kazuki grinned expectantly at me. I smiled-manically, I was sure-back and stepped inside. I shook off my shoes and then followed Kazuki into Mum's living room.

"He's here, Kari!" Kazuki announced my presence.

He headed straight for one of Mum's sofas and flopped down on it, seeming completely at ease. I took a few steps in, then turned to look at the two sitting on the sofa. One was a man I had not seen before, handsome in a non-descript way, brown-haired, gentle eyed, possibly a couple of years older than me, possibly even a little older than Kazuki, though not by much. As for the other, she stood up as I looked at her.

She had become taller, and she'd cut her hair, so it was shoulder length, complete with a neat, straight fringe. Her features had sharpened a little with age. But I recognised her immediately.

"Masa-nii-Chan?" she asked.

And the voice was the same, too. Not exactly the same as the voice from the phone yesterday, because whose phone-voice had ever been exactly the same as their actual voice? But it was her voice.

"Erm, hey, Kari." I stuttered. "I…erm, you've grown up."

"Yeah, well….."

Hikari shrugged, and blushed slightly. I shuffled awkwardly, wondering what to do next. She wasn't a kid anymore, I couldn't headlock her into a clumsy bear hug and tickle her or anything like that. But then Hikari solved the problem by almost leaping at me and hugging me.

"Woah," I spluttered, hugging her back. "You're big now, I can hardly carry you."

"You're bigger too, but silly as ever, I see." She giggled, before letting me go.

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"What's that meant to mean?" I asked her.

Hikari giggled again.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm glad you're still the same though." Her expression became pensive for just a second, before she went back to the sofa and sat back down next to the other man- _her husband, you doughnut. Her husband_.

"Anyway, let me introduce you to Yuuya-"

"Masashi, sit down." Kazuki said, interrupting her. "You don't need to stand there."

I rolled my eyes at him, and went over to Hikari and her husband. I held a hand out to him, and sized him up. In an ideal world, I would have been able to get his measure _before_ Hikari married him, but I couldn't exactly change that now. Between me and Kazuki, if he ever hurt her, he'd live to regret it for sure.

"I'm sure you've figured it out, but I'm Kari's other brother, Masashi Kita. Matsushita-tan, isn't it?"

"Yes, but Yuuya is fine, under the circumstances." Yuuya grasped my hand with a solid, warm grip, and shook it firmly. "It is very good to meet you all. It really is."

"Yuuya-tan it is then," I decided. "And it's good to meet you too."

I sat down on the other end of the sofa to the two of them, and scrambled for something to say.

"So, has Kari told you about us?"

"In the last few weeks or so, yes."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at Yuuya. Hikari looked between us warily, but just as I was about to ask something, Yuuya spoke up.

"Hika never really talked about her past, as such, but I had to help her get new copies of ID documents and stuff-she had nothing, when I met her. Her bicycle, a second-hand backpack full of work uniforms and the clothes she'd escaped in. I knew enough to know that it was because of the Remnants she'd ended up in such a situation, but never the full story."

 _So he calls her 'Hika' instead of 'Kari', huh? Interesting._ Also not the biggest question here either, but oh well.

"I found it hard to talk about." Hikari supplied.

"But nothing ever occurred to you, about, you know, pressing further? If there was anyone else left? You were well into adulthood by the time you met her, right?"

"Masashi." Kazuki cautioned.

But Yuuya shook his head, and instead looked pensive.

"No, I think you're right. But it was easy to overlook, because….well. Everyone was touched by those events, in some way or another, right? You were in the game, and then what happened to your father…that's just one family, but so many people died and got injured, I'm sure most families in the country have their stories. As for me….."

Yuuya paused for a moment, clearly collecting his thoughts. Hikari looked at him in concern, and reached out to take his hand. He held on tightly, and eventually spoke again.

"There was a family across the street from my childhood home, the Kamamine family. They were targeted by these Remnants. Their house was burnt down completely, they all died. And it was so bad that five other houses on that street also caught fire. One of my classmates from high school lived in one of those houses-he didn't make it out."

He paused for another moment, staring into the distance, and then continued.

"Tomoki, Yukiko, Nozomu and Nene. Those were their names…..those names, they're ingrained in me, forever."

 _Tomoki, Yukiko, Nozomu and Nene Kamamine._ I suspected the names would be ingrained in my mind now, too. I'd have to look for them on the pillar, next time I went around that way.

"I see…."

"To be fair, something should have been picked up by us, or by the police, when they left the country, or at some other point, really. They left perfectly legally, nothing wrong there. It's just that somewhere down the line, nobody connected the dots. The information just slipped through the cracks. At least it all turned out okay."

"Yeah…" I let out a breath. I smiled at Yuuya and Hikari.

"Yeah, I'm glad it all turned out okay."

"I'm sorry that I didn't think about you guys." Hikari said. "I should have-"

"No, no," I interrupted. "It's cool, you're here. Seriously, let's focus on the future."

"Well said, Masashi." Kazuki said.

"I agree with that, too." Yuuya said mildly. "You do too, right, Hika?"

Hikari looked at all of us, and then sighed and smiled.

"Yeah. We've got all that future ahead of us now, right?"

 _To the future._ That's what we'd all toasted to last night. But that wasn't just about us, it was about everything to come.

"Exactly. Let's enjoy it."

At that moment, our mother's voice called out from the kitchen.

"Lunch is ready!"

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

Getting bored of just looking outside the window, I pulled out my phone and took a look. There'd been some back and forth between Akira, Noriko, Wakana and Tyson, right up until Tyson had sent a message to say he was boarding his flight. After that, there'd been nothing. Shrugging, I waggled my fingers absently, and tried to think of something funny and witty to type, when suddenly the chat indicated that Masashi was typing.

 _Huh? I would have thought he'd be too busy enjoying meeting his sister again._ Curious, I waited, and then a picture popped up, with the caption ' _This is my little sister-she's safe and well, and I've told her about you all and she can't wait to meet you all._

 _Awesome,_ I fired back automatically. Then I took a closer look at the photograph of Masashi with a young woman who sort of resembled him, but not quite. She was pretty in a sort of non-descript way…..and also seemed familiar.

 _Huh?_

I stared at the photograph for a moment, my brain churning. And then suddenly, I got it.

"No way!" I exclaimed.

"Shhhhh!"

I looked up at the bored looking man sitting opposite me, who was glaring over a pretentious looking novel. _Grump._ I smiled fake-sweetly.

"Sorry!" I apologised chirpily.

The man grunted, and returned to his pretentious looking novel. I looked back at the phone, and started to type furiously.

 _I met her the other day, when we went to visit Yukizome-sensei. We got lost and she gave us directions._

 _No way,_ Noriko replied instantly. _Really? You sure it's her?_

 _Pretty sure, face is the same and all. Chieko-Chan, you remember, right?_ I asked.

 _Oh, that's interesting,_ Wakana typed suddenly, _do you think she'd recognise you if Kita-Chan showed her a photo?_

 _Yes, do it! Oiii, Kita-kun =D_ Noriko said. I sent another smiley face in response.

 _He's probably not looking at his phone anymore, give him some time,_ Akira reasoned. _Akamine-san, too._

 _Yeah, that's true,_ Wakana responded.

 _=P,_ I typed, _but I'm super curious now!_

There were no replies after that, even after waiting a few moments, so I stared at my phone, and wondered what to do. Then, I closed the chat, and opened up the one I had going with Haruhi.

 _Hi :),_ I typed carefully, before sending.

There was a moment, and then another moment, before:

 _Hi:)_

And I smiled, and started to type again.

 **…**

 _Noriko_

When the train announcements announced my stop, I exited the messaging app and tucked my phone into my coat pocket, but kept one earbud in as I got up and dragged my suitcases to the train door, waiting for it to stop. Once it did, I hopped clumsily off and headed straight for the exits, joining a small stream of people doing the same. It didn't take me long to get out, but once I did, rather than walking straight to the bus-stop, I paused for a while, stepping to the side so that I wasn't in the way of all the other people. It was as if I'd had a sudden burst of energy that'd left me almost as quickly as it came.

 _I'm going home. That's so weird._ Well, it wasn't really, but all the same, it felt weird. In some ways, we'd been in our own little bubble, somewhere odd between the past and present. In some ways, it had been a lot like when we were recovering after escaping, first in the hospital and then in Togami's house. It had just been us, in our own odd little bubble. But it had been a lot different, too. So much more eventful, for one thing- _and whose fault is some of that,_ I asked myself wryly. But it had been more than that, too, something I could not quite put my finger on.

Eventually, I decided that I needed to get a move on, so I grabbed a hold of my suitcases again and started to walk towards the bus stop. The song I was listening to stopped, and a new one started, and once again I marvelled at how quickly the two weeks (well, the two weeks and one day) had gone. Before I knew it, it would no longer be Kimihiro's month, but Daisuke's instead, and I'd be listening to intense orchestras with music that swirled around my mind, rather than thumping electronic beats that pulsed energetically. _Time, it's such a weird thing._

When I got to the bus-stop, the timetable claimed there were only two minutes until my bus, so I didn't bother to sit down. There was a bored-looking middle-aged man in a suit sitting on the bench, an over-dressed housewife loaded with shopping bags sitting on the opposite end and a trio of giggling high-school girls standing on the other side of the bus stop's shelter, and they all ignored me, so I did the same. When the bus arrived-exactly when it said it would-the bored man boarded it with me, but the girls remained behind.

There was a seat right next to the buggy area, which was thankfully empty, so I wheeled my suitcase into that area, and sat on the seat, staring out of the window and absently listening to the music as the bus started to move again. My mind shuffled through all the different things we'd done and said and discovered over the course of our reunion, and I was so lost in those thoughts I almost failed to notice the music stop as my phone rang.

"Yikes!"

I scrambled in my pocket quickly, disconnected the earphones, and without really looking at the screen to see who it was, I answered.

"Hello?"

"Oh!" I recognised the voice immediately. "Fumio-kun!"

"Ah, are you back then?"

"Yes, I am…." Though I was pleased to hear his voice, I frowned. "How did you know I'd gone somewhere? Did I tell you?"

"Well, whether you did or not, you didn't come to group, so I stopped by at your flat. Aratama-san said that you'd gone on some high school reunion?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Ah, right. Was it with the other survivors?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's right. Did Chiko tell you that too?" I asked, though it wasn't like it mattered if she had or not.

"No, but I guessed. In any case, I thought it was better just to let you be, but I thought maybe you'd be back so I just wanted to say hi."

I grinned at that. After the other Survivors, and Sachiko, Fumio was a very good friend of mine. We'd met at the support group we both attended, one for people who had survived tragedies. Many of those had been sole survivors of said tragedy.

"Well, I'm back, so how's life?"

"Good, nothing out of the ordinary. How about you. How was it?"

"It was….a lot of things, actually." I said. "A lot of things."

"Is…is that a good thing?" Fumio asked hesitantly.

"Ehhhh, there were some…uh, let's say precarious moments. But in the end, yeah, it was great. The best. I got to meet Chieko-Chan's daughter for the first time."

"Oh, that's nice." Fumio said.

"Mhm. I visited the site, too."

There was a very long pause, and Fumio let out a breath.

"The….site?"

"Yeah, the site." I thought about elaborating, but I wasn't quite ready to be gawked at in public again (when the book came out, I'd decide what to do about that then, but until that point- _yeah, no_ ).

"Oh." Fumio said in the end, simply.

"Yup, exactly. There'll be a lot for me to talk about in group!" I said, laughing.

"You, voluntarily start a topic in group?" Fumio laughed too. "That doesn't sound like you. But then again, that's good."

I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it seems like this reunion's changed you. I'm not sure how….but maybe you've turned a corner? Something like that?"

"Pssh, I wouldn't know." I said flippantly, suddenly feeling awkward.

"So…that means you're coming to group?" Fumio asked smoothly.

"Yep, for sure. I'll see you then, then?"

Fumio laughed again.

"For sure. Bye now, Noriko-Chan."

"Bye."

Fumio hung up, and I played my music again, tucking my phone into my pocket again, and leaning against the window, to watch the world go by

 **…**

As I walked up to our flat door, it opened suddenly, and Sachiko grinned at me.

"Hey there."

"That was fast." I said.

"Well duh," Sachiko rolled her eyes. "You texted me when you were off the bus, then I looked through the window."

"Ohhhh."

Not sure what to say to that, I just stared. And stood there. _I'm home. I've changed. I've…turned a corner? Maybe._ Time stretched passed slowly, and still I didn't move. And then eventually, Sachiko rolled her eyes again, more dramatically this time, and poked my shoulder.

"Well, what're you standing around for? You've got lots to tell me."

Sachiko stepped aside with an impatient huff, and ushered me in with a mock-glare. That snapped me out of my momentary reverie, and I grinned at her.

"Yeah, I do."


	80. Scraps of the Past 18 (FINAL)

**As you can see, I have not gone out today, so here's this week's update at its normal time. I've been looking forward to releasing this chapter for a good while now, so I hope you all like it too!**

* * *

Junko Enoshima had just finished re-painting the nails on her left hand when Mukuro and Matsuda came back in. They closed the door behind them, and while Matsuda shuffled over to his workstation and grabbed the magazine he'd been working his way through, Mukuro waited by the door for her signal, looking uglier under the bright lights (obviously, this room was brightly lit. It was only clichéd villains who made their lairs all dull and gloomy. And Junko prided herself on not being even slightly clichéd.).

"Report, Onee-Chan." She smirked, held out her hand and blew at the wet nail polish absently.

"All of the students have been moved, Junko-Chan." Mukuro stated. "The notes have been placed within easy reach of them too. Everything is as you wanted it to be."

"Good to see you can carry out basic tasks. None of them woke up?"

"No, they didn't. "

"Ehh, how _boring_." Junko pouted. It certainly would have been different if one of them had started to wake up and kick up a fight. On the other hand, the real fun hadn't even started. So this was no big loss.

"And how is dear, dear Yukizome-sensei?" Junko sniggered at the name of Class 78's teacher. Yukizome was so good and caring and earnest, she actually seemed to _care_ about her students as students, not as talent producing androids as her own teacher had seemed to think, so long ago. _Hell, I don't even remember that old fart's name. Eh, who cares?_

They'd been thinking of keeping her awake to watch the students get their memories wiped, and to have her help to put up the steel windows and make all the other minor tweaks, but she'd been so worked up and trying to help her precious, precious students that Matsuda had just ended up constantly sedating her, only letting her stay awake long enough to eat and drink and do her business. It wouldn't be any use at all if she died of starvation before the party started, after all.

"Speaking of sedation, when's will the brats' wear off, Matsuda- _kuuuuun_?" Junko drawled.

"Fucking hell."Matsuda snarled at her as he peered over his magazine. "Could be right now, or half an hour. That's what you've got your goddamn monitors for."

"Yes, yes I do." Junko turned to said monitors, and reached out to the mouse, but at that moment, Ryouko's hand shot out. Startled, Junko whipped her head around to see her cousin smile sheepishly at her, and hold up the bottle of nail polish, before setting it back down on the table, but somewhere she wouldn't knock it over again. Junko raised an eyebrow, but then nodded slowly, respectfully. _As you'd expect from a former SHSL Analyst. Then again, it's not like I'm anything to sneeze at either._ Otherwise she would have never been able to get this far, to tip the world to despair. She only wished she could be outside to see the culmination of the months of chaos she'd orchestrated. On the other hand, she had already seen the stages leading up to it, so it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining as the killing game. This was the climax and so this was where she was best placed.

She clicked and tapped, and eventually brought up the video feeds for the different places in the school that the members of Class 78 had been placed. Classrooms, the two storage rooms, the canteen, a recreation room, even the gymnasium, just to be nice. All random places, with no rhyme or reason to them. Still, it would have them scratching their heads for a while.

 _The only thing is to pass the time until they start to wake up._

"Heyy, Ryouko-Onee, paint my other hand for me."

"Uh…" Ryouko, who had returned to busily scribbling in her notebook, looked up and blinked hesitantly.

"Jesus, do you want her to forget what we just did? At least wait!" Matsuda snapped.

"But I want her to paint my nails." Junko said, playing the petulant child to a tee. Ryouko looked between them.

"I….it should be okay, it's just where everyone is….and it's on the screen. Anyway, it's just a few more words….it's okay, isn't it, Yasuke-kun?"

"Hell." Matsuda glowered, and then sighed deeply. "Do what you want."

Ryouko nodded earnestly at that, and then took a few more moments to scribble before closing her notebook and carefully tucking it into the pocket of her dress, and putting the pen back on the work station.

"Okay, Junko-Chan, let's do it."

"Perfect. Thanks."

Junko leaned back and relaxed in her chair, and looked around her. Matsuda was still absorbed in his magazine, and opposite him, Mitarai was sitting hunched over his keyboard, working on what Junko hoped were the videos she needed for the first motive. She wasn't worried about their quality-all the videos he'd done for them so far had surpassed all her expectations-nor was she concerned about his ability to make them realistic enough. She and Ryouko had gathered all the information, as well as sources for the sounds of their voices, and all he had to do was use it.

 _Well, he's bumbling on like the busy little bee he is. Bless._ That last thought had a mocking tone, and she had to hold back a laugh. It had proved so easy to reel him in with promises of changing the world. He'd balked when realising that how they each defined such a thing was different for the both of them, but she'd managed to shut it down. Turned out that for all he was a reedy otaku, he was also a typical red-blooded male, too. And not that bad looking, so it wasn't all that repulsive. And she'd only needed to make threats towards his precious former classmates- _bleurgh!-_ a few times when that hadn't quite worked. Either way, the end result was that he was in far too deep to ever be able to escape.

 _And if he does grow a pair and decide to try anyway, then I'll just have Onee-Chan kill him._

"Oh, stupid Onee-Chan, you're still there? I didn't notice." Junko insincerely said. "Go, sit down. Steal Matsuda-kun's crisps or something."

"Don't you fucking _dare_." Matsuda looked up from his magazine long enough to say this. Mukuro nodded and then looked over at Junko.

"Yeah, go on. Put your feet up."

"Thanks, Junko-Chan." Blushing in happiness, Mukuro scurried across the room and took an empty seat. After some consideration, she snagged a bottle of soda and opened it carefully, before glugging it down with quiet deliberation. Junko stared at her twin sister for a moment, then quickly got bored. _She's high on the fact I was 'nice' to her, how funny._ Shrugging it away, Junko propped her chin on her free hand, and watched Ryouko paint her nails.

It occurred to her that they were quite a lot like each other, Ryouko and Mukuro. Eager to do everything they could for her, simply out of family loyalty. The only difference was that where Mukuro was ever the blind, unquestioning soldier even with her, Ryouko had a taste for the unpredictable, the things she couldn't 'foresee' with her analytical abilities. But of course, for a former SHSL Analyst, everything had been unpredictable.

 _Until me._

For a moment, she once again wondered about the outside world. She'd probably find out soon enough, once the first killing game video had been made and sent out, but she could guess that the Remnants, so utterly under her spell, were busy out there making hell for the whole of Japan, making it next to impossible for them to send help to the poor little SHSL students still trapped in Hope's Peak. _I'm sure, right now, the world is burning. Or if not, it's almost there. Ahhh, the despair, it's delicious._

"Uhhh."

"Eh? What was that?" Mitarai jumped. Junko smiled at him lasciviously and said nothing before turning her attention to the screen and checking the different feeds.

"Somebody's woken up?" Ryouko answered instead, sounding uncertain as she put the nail polish brush back in the bottle and also turned to look at the screen. "Ah, there."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, Ryouko-Onee. Geez, chill." Junko enlarged the video feed, and stared at the shot of the classroom. On screen, Chieko Akamine sat up slowly, rubbing the weariness from her eyes.

"Huh….what happened?" Chieko looked around her, and pulled a face upon realising she was sitting at what was clearly a teacher's desk. Spotting her invitation, she picked it up without really looking at it.

"Is this Hope's Peak?" she wondered aloud. "And…wait, Koutarou! Koutarou?!"

All of a sudden, Chieko sprung up and looked around, and even on the screen the relief on her face was all too clear as she spotted her childhood friend slumped over one of the student desks. Koutarou stirred as she rushed over to him, peppering him with questions and concern. After a couple of moments of reassuring each other, they found themselves comparing notes, such as it were. Breathlessly, Junko watched them confer and eventually decide to leave the room, and once they did, she laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

 _Upupu, now, it begins._


	81. Goodbye, part 3 (FINAL)

_Chieko_

"Look for Aunt Misa, she should be waiting for us in her car." I told Shizuka as we walked towards the station exit.

Shizuka nodded, taking her task very seriously as we exited and weaved through the small clusters of people here and there, all going and coming from different places. We didn't look particularly out of the ordinary here, just another mother and child, going somewhere or coming back from somewhere. Normally, I'd just be glad of that-and I still was-but I wondered how it was nobody could see just how different I felt now. It felt painfully obvious to me, this new feeling of…what? Of being alright, and knowing I would be alright, but also something more.

"Aunt Misa!"

Shizuka's exclamation jolted me out of my thoughts as she pulled her hand away from mine and rushed ahead of me.

"Shizuka, wait!"

My heart seemed to jam in my throat, even as I told myself it was fine. _It's different-you can still see here, you know exactly where you are, she knows exactly where she is._ But she was making a beeline towards a small car I recognised well, throwing herself at the young woman leaning against it watching everything around her-unmistakably Misa-and when she hugged Shizuka back and looked up at me as I rushed to catch up, her patient smile filled me with relief. _See, it's fine._

"And who's this?" Misa was asking once I had caught up, pointing to Yosa.

"Yosa!" Shizuka said proudly, holding the frog high so Misa could examine it. "Masa-san gave him to me."

"Him?" Misa did a very subtle double-take, but Shizuka pouted impressively anyway.

"Yes, Aunt Misa, Yosa is a boy."

"Ah, I see." Misa nodded as if this made perfect sense. "So he's a danseur then?"

"What's a dan-" Shizuka stumbled over the word.

"Danseur. It's the word for a male ballet dancer." Misa explained.

"Ohhh."

"There's a specific word for that? I didn't know that." I said, impressed.

"Mhm. I read it somewhere."

"Oh. Of course." I smiled at that. Out of the two of us, Misa had always been the bookish one.

Misa gave me a careful look at that, and it seemed to last a little too long before her expression cleared and she straightened up.

"Right, let's put everything away then."

"Sure."

We stuffed all our bags into the boot of Misa's car, and then Shizuka happily clambered into the back, while I went into the passenger seat next to Misa.

"Onee-Chan, want to eat something before we start off?" I offered Misa a slice of pastry from the small bag of leftover snacks Akira had given to us.

"No thank you."

"Got it. Shizuka?"

"Yes please."

I handed the bag through the seats, and Shizuka grabbed at it eagerly. Misa nodded, and then started to drive.

"So, how was it?"

Misa's question was careful, measured. She was always like that anyway, but she seemed to be checking for something in particular. _She's worried,_ I realised suddenly as I thought of what to say, recognising the cautious tone from the days and weeks after coming home. _She's worried about me._

"It was good." I started. "Really nice to see everyone again after all this time. Eventful, as you can imagine. There was a lot that happened."

 _Understatement of the year, that._

"I made new friends!" Shizuka piped up suddenly from the back.

"Oh?" Misa looked at her through the rear-view mirror. "Tell me about them."

So Shizuka happily regaled Misa with the tale of how she'd met Tsubaki and Renge and how we'd become friends with the family and she'd gone to play with them a few times. I elaborated that a couple of these times had been when the rest of us had gone to places we couldn't take her, and Misa nodded at that, clearly making a mental note to ask me about them later on. But apart from that, I more or less let Shizuka explain everything that had happened from her point of view, and her stories cheerfully jumped back and forth in time from movie night and the festival to going shopping and playing in the garden and meeting cats. And then:

"We went to the daisy field too!"

"The daisy field?" Misa asked, clearly puzzled.

"Yeah!" Shizuka said cheerily. "It used to be where Mummy's school was, but it collapsed, and now there's daisies in a field."

"I see. That sounds interesting." Misa stated blandly.

"I don't know." Shizuka said, frowning. "It was weird. Daddy died there, you know."

Though still appearing to stare straight ahead at the road, Misa flicked a sharp glance at me that I couldn't miss. At that moment, we ended up stuck in a long line of traffic, and Misa turned to look at me properly.

"You went _there_?" she asked. "Why?"

"We were talking about it, and we got curious. So we went yesterday morning."

"Just like that, with no warning?"

"Well, yes…."

"You could have told them no, they would've been fine with it, right?"

Misa's voice was still very controlled, but almost too much so. I sighed.

"They would have." _Kita-kun would have quashed anyone who said no, had I not wanted to,_ I realised suddenly and somewhat randomly. But I put thoughts of Masashi to the side-with some effort-and went back to the issue at hand.

"I wanted to see it, too."

Misa raised a single eyebrow, and her glance this time wasn't so sharp.

"You did?"

"Yeah."

There was a silence broken only by Shizuka happily munching on snacks, and then eventually Misa sighed.

"That's fine, but, Chieko, are you sure that was such a good idea? Wouldn't it have stirred up everything?"

"It did…."

I carefully looked behind me-Shizuka hadn't noticed anything was amiss between us, which filled me with relief. I might have taken her to the daisy field and started to tell her the story, but I was not ready for her to know everything about it. Especially not how I had been returning seven years ago, which I knew was what Misa was thinking of now, with her questions and objections. She wasn't just worrying, she was going back to the past, too.

"It did, but it was okay. It's kind of a turning point, I think. I'll be okay." I concluded eventually. "I know I will."

The traffic started to move again, and Misa didn't respond for a while as she concentrated on driving the car. Then:

"You've changed." She said simply.

"I have?" _Yes, I have._

"Yes. For the better. I think."

Misa considered this for a second, then nodded.

"Yes, for the better. But I still think….." Misa trailed off, and instead of saying whatever it was she had been going to say, she decided upon. "You will still go to talk about it, right?"

"Yes, of course." I said. "I need to do that, anyway."

 _It'll certainly be a lot to unpack,_ I thought to myself. _And I know I need advice too, about where to go with things now there's Kita-kun. How do I even tell him about Dr Yamamoto anyway? Even if we're just trial dating, that's still something someone should know about someone they're in a relationship, right?_

"Chieko?"

I blinked.

"Sorry. Just…thinking."

"Hmmm."

"It's okay." I said, again. "I'm okay."

Misa gave me another loaded sideways glance, and then sighed.

"You've grown up." She said, simply.

"Have I?" I asked, wrong-footed for a moment.

Misa shrugged at that.

"Yeah."

 _Growing up, is that what's different about me?_

"Well, I guess that's a good thing."

"Well, why wouldn't it be?"

Misa sounded confused as she said this, and I laughed at that.

"Mummy, what's so funny?" Shizuka asked from the back.

"Nothing," I said, still smiling. "Nothing at all."

 **…**

Misa parked her car in front of our house, and helped us to carry our bags over to the front door. Or rather, me, as Shizuka was bouncing around and looking around as if home was a completely new place.

"Home looks weird now." She told us.

"Why's that?" I asked.

Shizuka shrugged.

"Everything looks weird when you don't see it for a long time." She said simply.

"That's probably true." I agreed.

 _And the longer you don't see it for, the weirder it becomes,_ I thought as I put the last bag on the doorstep and turned to Misa.

"Do you want to come in?" I asked.

"Do you want me to?" Misa asked, considering me.

"Well…." I shrugged. "You could come in, have a drink before you go back."

Misa appeared to consider this some more, and then shook her head.

"No, that's fine." She said. "It's probably better for me to head back. You'll be fine on your own though?"

As I opened my mouth to answer, she shook her head and laughed slightly.

"No, that was a silly question. But if you do need anything…."

"Yeah, I know." I said. "Thanks, Onee-chan."

Misa nodded at that, and turned to go, giving us a quick wave before she got into the car and drove away.

"Bye, Aunt Misa!" Shizuka called out as we watched her go.

Once her car was completely out of sight, I turned and opened the door. Shizuka bounded in past me, while I dragged the bags in.

"We're back!" Shizuka announced for the two of us, only to be met with silence. Looking befuddled, she turned to me.

"Mummy, where's Grandpa?"

"He's probably still at work, sweetheart."

"Oh." Shizuka said, taken aback. "What about Grandma Ana?"

"She'd also still be at work. Come help me take the bags up, okay?"

Shizuka brightened at this.

"Okay!"

So we got the bags up, taking them to my room, and then I sent Shizuka to play in her room while I sorted things out. First I took the dirty clothes that we'd accumulated after what had been washed, and took those down and put them in the washing machine, and then put away some of my own clothes, before gathering up the rest of Shizuka's things. But as I headed to her room, I hesitated. Then, I turned back, and picked up the package that contained the painting of Koutarou as well before going to her room.

Shizuka was sitting on the bed, happily playing a complicated game with Yosa and some of her soft toys, and she looked up when I came in.

"Come put your clothes away." I told her.

Shizuka hopped off the bed, causing a couple of toys to fall off too. She paused to pick them up, patting them consolingly before doing so, then joined me. But her attention was taken by the painting. Cautiously, she pointed to it.

"It's really for me?" she asked.

"I promised, didn't I?"

Shizuka nodded at that.

"Mhm. But where're we going to put it?"

I looked around at her room. Nowhere in particular stood out to me as a suitable place, so I shook my head.

"I'm not sure. But we can always think about it tomorrow. Let's just unpack everything, and then you can play while I start on dinner."

Shizuka was more than happy with this, so we got on with putting away all her clothes, and then I let her put away the toys that we'd taken with us, while I went downstairs. Instead of heading straight to the kitchen to cook though, I sat down in the living room and checked my phone.

There weren't that many messages, mostly Noriko and Hokuto screaming about something. Hokuto had asked me if I remembered something, but I had no idea what she was referring to until I scrolled back up and saw Masashi had posted a photograph of himself with someone who was apparently his sister. I recognised the face immediately, and not just because of any family resemblance.

"Ah, so is that what they're talking about?" I murmured to myself as I re-read the messages more carefully.

Apparently, it was, so I sent a reply:

 _Yes, you're right. She was definitely the one-they were just moving into their new house._

Moments later, Hokuto replied.

 _YES, I KNEW IT!_

 _Small world, isn't it?_ Akira sent in response.

 _Yeah, it is,_ I typed. _Anyway, I have to cook now._

I locked my phone screen and left the phone on the coffee table before going to the kitchen and seeing what we had to start to make dinner, and then I started with the preparation.

After a little while, the bell rang unexpectedly. _Who could that be? Dad would just open the door._

"Coming!" I called out.

Quickly, I dried my hands, and went to the door. I put it on the chain and then opened it, only to see Ana.

"Chie-chan!" she smiled at me.

"Ana-san."

I smiled back, and released the chain so I could open the door completely.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just thought you'd be ba-"

She was interrupted by the sound of tiny footsteps rushing towards us, and Shizuka barrelling straight towards her.

"Grandma Ana!"

"Shizu-chan." Ana bent down to give Shizuka a tight hug. "It's good to see you? Did you have fun?"

"Yup!" Shizuka declared. "Come, Grandma Ana, I want to tell you about it."

"Shizuka, wait, you have to ask her first."

"No, it's fine," Ana shook her head. "I just got home, I wouldn't be doing anything anyway. I'd be happy to come."

"Well, I'm making dinner, so Shizuka, you keep Grandma Ana entertained, okay?"

"Mhm!" Shizuka nodded enthusiastically.

"Do you want help with the cooking, Chie-Chan?"

"No, it's fine, really."

"Well, if you're sure."

I closed the door, and while Shizuka dragged Ana upstairs, I returned to the kitchen. A short while later, Dad came home, and Shizuka rushed down to glomp him just as enthusiastically as she had Ana, and they all ended up watching TV in the living room until dinner was ready. Ana stayed over to eat with us, and then decided to go home. Shizuka went upstairs to play, and I decided to sit in the living room with Dad for a while, just unwinding by mindlessly watching the news with him.

"So…the school." Dad said after a while. "What is it like now?"

He seemed genuinely curious, though there was a touch of caution in his tone too.

"It's just ruins, really. And a field, of daisies. Just daisies, left to grow wild. And it's really quiet there, too."

"Mhm." Dad nodded, and considered this.

"It still must have brought back a lot for you?"

"Of course."

Another silent pause, pierced only by the sounds of the TV. And then, Dad looked at me.

"Your mother would be proud of you, you know?"

That came so completely out of the blue, that for a moment I could only stare at him in surprise.

"She would?"

Dad simply nodded.

"She would."

And apparently, nothing more than that needed to be said.

 **…**

After some time, I said goodnight to Dad, and went upstairs to get Shizuka and myself ready for bed. We brushed our teeth, changed, and then I went to read her a story and tuck her in amongst Yosa and her many soft toys, before going to my room. I checked my phone and sent a couple of replies to messages, before turning it off and crawling into my bed, and falling asleep almost immediately.

 **…**

I woke up slowly, the last threads of a dream slipping away from me. All I could remember from it was Koutarou's face, Koutarou's voice. I lay there and tried to concentrate on it, but no, the dream was gone. Yawning, I turned over and looked at the clock. It was still pretty early, but I had things to do, so I'd probably get up soon. _But I'll take a few more moments,_ I decided, turning back onto my back and looking up at the ceiling. I thought about everyone going back into their normal lives, but eventually, my mind drifted back to the dream that I couldn't remember, trying to glimpse some snatches of it.

 _Koutarou._ Strangely enough, it didn't hurt, the thought of him. That surprised me. Painful memory or not, they usually all hurt. How come this one didn't?

 _Because you've grown up, like Onee-chan said. Haven't you been thinking it yourself, that you've changed._

"Yeah, "I said aloud to myself, quietly. "That must be it."

 _Would you agree, Koutarou? Maybe I should visit you today. I can bring Shizuka with me, and she can tell you about what we did._

For the first time ever, I smiled at the thought of the graveyard. I looked at the time again, and decided to get up, and start this new day.

* * *

 **AND NOW IT IS THE END. Well, sort of the end, because there are the epilogues too. But yeah, for all intents and purposes the main story is finished! Thanks for reading all this way-I hope you've enjoyed this story and that you will look forward to the epilogues. I'm gonna take a more irregular approach to updating those, just sort of as-and-when I complete them, but I will leave the story status as in-progress until they're all done.**

 **Anyway, there's something I need to mention, which is about the recycling of OCs. Basically, please do not submit the characters that you have here to other SYOCs just because this story is finished. I have seen this happen with a lot of people, including my fic-writer friends, and it is demoralising and downright rude. I am sure most of you do know better than to do something like that, but if you're new and unsure of fic etiquette or whatever, then this is really just to let you know not to do that.**

 **But to end this author's note on a nicer note...Police Piccadilly released a new song on Tuesday, called 'Seperate'. It is beautiful, and it is currently my life, so that's my song recommendation today. :)**

 **Anyway, I'll see you next time with the first epilogue :) As always, please leave feedback!  
**


	82. Epilogue 1: 1 Year Later

_Wakana_

I reached for my jacket and shrugged it on, then looked around the dressing room, making sure I hadn't left everything behind. Once I was satisfied, I turned off the lights, closed the door behind me, and left.

Other members of my orchestra were also coming out of their dressing rooms, or walking down the corridors to the exit, so I went to join a small group of them.

"Good work," I told them as I caught up to them. "You did well today."

"Thank you, Abe-san." One of my violinists said, inclining his head slightly.

"We should be thanking you, Abe-san, for giving us such good music to work with."

"Oh, no, no." I blushed slightly as I responded to the young oboist's comment. "The Daybreak Symphonies would not have sounded as wonderful these past three nights without you all."

Now it was the oboist's turn to blush, and she shrugged prettily. I smiled at her. Natsuka Izumi was the latest person who I had just rented out my apartment to-she was shy and young with no family, but an absolute angel on the oboe and a pleasure to work for.

"I'm pleased you're all enjoying this though. At least it's the last night, am I right?"

"Indeed." Another violinist agreed.

We reached the exit, and after I bid them goodnight, they went one way and I went the other, weaving my way through the crowds, where various people were going towards cars parked in the carpark or heading towards the station, or simply waiting for others while chatting. I waved and nodded to the various people I knew as I passed or caught glimpses of them-Haruna, Tetsuya and Yoshiki; Ben and Sayuri; Daisuke's siblings (Chikako accompanied by her husband, Ryuu on his own);Haruhi; Hikari and Yuuya.

I saw my own parents, but I'd talked to them in my dressing room, so I contented myself with another wave and left them talking to other former SHSLs, including Naegi and Kirigiri. _No doubt they're talking about Hope's Peak._ My parents had always been supportive of me, never more so than in the aftermath of what had happened eight years ago, but they had always clung to a nostalgia about Hope's Peak that had been hard for me to swallow, even as I missed the carefree days I'd lost. It had taken a long time for me to feel at peace about it, but now, to a certain extent, I did.

"Excellent work, Abe-san!" someone called to me as I went past the group.

"Thank you!" I responded, beaming.

The Daybreak Symphonies were probably my biggest and most significant works since The Songbird's Lament. The beginnings from the music that I had first started writing on our fateful reunion a year ago, complemented by the last piece I'd written at Hope's Peak (which I had finally been prompted to search for after that reunion), and then gradually built upon. They were pieces infused with the past, yet they were also a symbol of the future. In some ways lighter than the darker pieces I was well aware I'd become known for after Hope's Peak, but serious all the same. As if they wanted to underline the fact that no matter what I did, I could not go back, but that it was not a bad thing. I'd cried on the first night of performances, but they were different tears to the ones that I'd cried when I'd conducted The Songbird's Lament.

 _I'm so pleased at how well the concert went._

"Wakana-Chan, we're over here!"

I looked over in the direction of the calling, and lifted my hand up to show I had noticed, and I picked up my speed a little so I could join them again.

"Amazing stuff!" Hokuto slapped my shoulder and grinned as soon as I reached them. "I swear, you know me, not really a classical music person, but holy….wow."

"I second that!" Masashi grinned, though he did not slap my shoulder on account of having his arm around Chieko, whose smile was more measured, but still clear and pleased.

 _Seems to me at this point they're only 'trial' dating in name only,_ I observed for a moment. Not that it mattered what they called it, as long as they were happy. _If only I was brave enough to plunge into things like that,_ I thought, thinking of Tyson. But I shook such thoughts away-tonight was a _happy_ night.

"You worked really hard," Chieko was saying. "Well done."

"Thanks, guys."

I beamed at all of them. I was glad that they'd all managed to make it to come and watch me and my orchestra-well, almost all, since Tyson had not been able to get away from his shop, but since the performance had been broadcast he'd been watching it online, as he'd told me. It was a sign we were making good on our promise, to not let so much time slip by before all seeing each other again.

"No problem." Noriko beamed. "I had a blast tonight. Do you know, I'm still stuffed after that dinner!"

"Yeah, you only mentioned it three times while we were waiting." Masashi snarked at her.

I laughed at them. _Same as ever._

"Right, let's go then." Hokuto decided. "It's not quite freezing but also this is not weather I want to be standing around in at this time of night."

"Sure, sure." Noriko said.

"Akira-Chan, where'd you park the car?" I asked.

"Over there," Akira answered. "See?"

I squinted into the darkness, then nodded once I spotted it.

"I'm still not quite used to that, you know, you guys being roommates." Masashi remarked.

"It's been six months."

Masashi geared up to retort snarkily, then realised it was Chieko who had pointed this out. He laughed awkwardly.

"Well, yeah, but…actually, you know what, I'll stop there. Let's walk them to the car, okay?"

"Sure, that's okay by me." Chieko agreed.

"No, no, it's fine." I insisted. "You all head on home."

"If you're sure…." Chieko said.

"Yeah, we are, right, Akira-Chan?"

"Yes, definitely." Akira agreed.

There was a moment hesitation, then the others agreed too, so after a flurry of hugs and farewells, Noriko, Hokuto, Masashi and Chieko all started to walk to the car-park exit, and Akira and I watched and waved until they were out of sight. Then, Akira turned to me.

"Shall we go home now?"

"Yeah."

 **…**

 _Akira_

"We're back." I whispered into the darkness I opened the door and we stepped inside. I bent down to take off my shoes, and waited. Sure enough, after a few moments the silence was interrupted by the padding of feet, and the low, soft, beginnings of a growl. A moment later Yuki, our happy black Labrador, appeared, and the growl stopped, replaced by happy panting and eager tail wagging as he bounded towards us.

"Hey, boy." Wakana crooned, kneeling down to hug Yuki and ruffle his fur. "Have you been waiting up for us? Where's Maru?"

Looking for all the world as if he completely understood what we were asking, Yuki nuzzled Wakana, and then turned his head in the direction in which he came. Sure enough, our rotund, surly tabby cat had slunk in behind us.

"Good evening, Maru." I said to the cat formally.

Maru's response was to stare at us both evenly with her steady green eyes, before she apparently decided it wasn't worth chatting to us, and she turned swiftly, padding back into the direction of the kitchen as silently as she'd come.

"Aww, Maru's sad that we didn't invite her to the concert, isn't she? You can talk sense into her, can't you?" Wakana continued to croon to a very pleased Yuki. "Now, I need to take off my shoes and get myself to sleep, so I'll have to let you go, okay?"

Yuki panted and looked expectantly at Wakana, but didn't seem to accept or deny this either way. But he happily let Wakana undo her shoes and shrug off her jacket.

"Whose turn is it to check the bowls for the night?" Wakana asked through yawns. "I know, but I can't…"

"We agreed I'd do it for the nights of this performance, so I'll do it again tonight, then it's your turn tomorrow night." I answered after a moment's thought.

"Perfect." Wakana nodded.

She bent down to pat Yuki again, and then straightened and headed up to the stairs. I turned and made my way to the kitchen, and Yuki followed automatically. As I checked the bowls, and replaced water in Yuki's, Yuki curled up in his basket, but Maru appeared out of nowhere and decided to sit on my head and make things more difficult. Though it was not that difficult, as I was more or less used to our grumpy cat's antics, and soon Maru went to annoy Yuki instead.

I'd found Maru as a stray a few weeks after the reunion with the other Survivors last year, and then a couple of months after that, I'd gone to adopt another cat to keep Maru company, only for Maru to take to Yuki for some inexplicable reason instead. It had been around that time Wakana and I had started to discuss the possibility of living together. It turned out that we were both haunted by empty houses, even if we experienced that feeling in slightly different ways. After much talking and working out of logistics, it seemed logical that she move in with me.

So she decided to rent her flat to members of her orchestra who were struggling with finding somewhere to live, and had packed everything up to move in. She used Hibiki's bedroom, and the other bathroom, but everything else we shared. Though she'd be away from time to time due to various tours and performances, housework and errands were more or less divided fairly between us, and we made a point of cooking our meals together as often as we could, replicating that easy rhythm we'd found back when we'd done the same at the reunion-something I'd thought would only ever be short lived. I was glad of it.

With everything done downstairs, I headed back upstairs. Just as I got to the top, Wakana came out of the bathroom, clad in her pyjamas. She yawned, then noticed me, and smiled.

"Good night, Akira-Chan."

 _Yeah, I'm glad of it._

I nodded at her, and smiled back.

"Good night."

She smiled, and disappeared into her room. I headed into my own, grabbed my pyjamas, then went to the bathroom . As I washed and got into my pyjamas, I thought about the changes the year had brought, and the more that were to come. The arrangement I had with Wakana now, for example, was not one that was going to last forever. I had seen the way she and Tyson looked at each other, noticed their increasing closeness and her disappointment that he hadn't been able to make it to tonight's performance in person. Inevitably, she'd leave because of it, and since I had no chance of having anything like that with anyone, I would be on my own again.

But I wouldn't be alone. I had Yuki and Maru, for one thing. And I was looking into other things-the possibility of renting out a room, the possibility of fostering children, things like that. There were options.

 _And_ , I thought as I yawned, _plenty of time to think about them_.

I gathered up my clothes and left the bathroom, then went to my room. Once I'd hung up the clothes, I crawled straight into bed and fell into a deep, contented sleep.

 **…**

 _Noriko_

One minute I was contently asleep, the notes of Wakana's performance pieces filling my dreams, and the next minute, I was being ambushed by Sachiko, who was pulling at my arms, and then my legs, and ordering me to wake up.

"Ugh, Chiko, I literally just got home, lemme sleep…."

I attempted to shake her off, but when her grip remained strong, I blearily opened my eyes, and naturally, saw nothing that could tell me why she had taken it into her head to wake me up like this.

"Technically you got here six hours ago, but no. It's important, look!"

"Unggh."

Mentally cursing Sachiko, I groaned and felt around for my glasses on my bedside table, putting them on before getting out of bed and glaring blearily at Sachiko-who, as it turned out, was grinning at me. That grin didn't falter under my glare, and the moment she saw I was completely awake, she tugged my arm again, and this time proceeded to drag me out of bed and out into the hallway.

"Hey! What the hell!"

"Ta-da!" Sachiko proclaimed, pointing.

I gave her another bleary glare, then followed her gaze to where there was a massive, heavily taped cardboard box. I didn't get what the big deal was about a box, but then I noticed the return address, and it clicked.

"The advance copies?!" I asked eagerly.

"Yup! Told you they'd be arriving today."

"Well, yes. But I was expecting them to arrive…you know, during the day?"

Sachiko raised an eyebrow at me.

"It is during the day."

"Oh psh, you know what I mean." I said, flapping my hand in a dismissive gesture at her.

I then turned to the box, and stared at it. Despite the fact I was very, very sleepy, I could not hide my excitement over this. I picked up the box, grunting slightly at how heavy it was, and I took it into our living room space. Sachiko followed, perching on the arm of a sofa and watching me as I dumped it on the middle of the rug.

"Um, you wrote it? Are you not going to open it too?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Let me get scissors."

"Sure."

In the few seconds she took to get the scissors, I attempted to make some headway with the tape, but got precisely nowhere- _hence the need for scissors, silly_. I snatched them off of her the moment I could, and attacked the box. I finally managed to open the box, and I flung open the flaps and plunged my hands in, and pulled out one of the copies.

"Oh wow, the cover looks so good!" I exclaimed, running my fingers across the slightly raised lettering.

"It does, doesn't it?"

"I still don't know why you went for Pepto Bismol pink, but it works." I told her.

"You know, for once you sound like you know what you're talking about when it comes to colour."

I pretended to ignore that, and flicked through the book, reading a couple of pages at random. Then, I went to the dedications page.

 _For the rest of us-you are always remembered-Noriko Edano._

That had been the wording for the dedication to our classmates that Sachiko had eventually decided on after considering and rejecting many options. But I hadn't expected the dedication to be signed off specifically with my name. Nor was I expecting there to be another line of dedication. Frowning, I read it.

 _For Noriko, the survivor who gave me this story. I'm proud of you, bestie-Sachiko Aratama._

I blinked, and read it again. And again.

"Yo, you okay?" Sachiko asked.

I looked at her, and grinned. I held up the book at the dedications page to show her.

"Thanks for this….bestie."

Sachiko pulled a face, then grinned back at me.

"Right back at you." She responded. "Are you actually going to brush your teeth and change now?"

"Says the person who _dragged me out of bed_ …..!"

* * *

 **If you're wondering why I haven't mentioned a title for Noriko's book...it's because I can't think of one *sweatdrops*. If anyone has suggestions I am open to them but until then I am just going to refer to it as 'the book', 'Noriko's book' and so on.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first epilogue. Look forward to the next ones :)**


	83. Epilogue 2: 5 Years Later

_Masashi_

 _Right, I think I need a break too,_ I decided, stretching and looking around the kitchen. Everything was more or less in place now, and all that I needed to do was put the cardboard boxes to a side until I'd checked with Chieko if we were going to throw them away or not.

Lazily, I wandered over to our new fridge and opened it to get a drink of juice. _Shopping, that's another thing to do today,_ I noted absently as I took the carton over and poured the contents into a glass, _we've almost finished unpacking all the important things, we can probably ease off the takeaways now. Man, moving is hectic._ Though it'd felt a lot more chaotic this second time around-somehow. I hadn't realised quite how much things we'd managed to fit into Misa's old flat while we'd been living there and saving up for this place. It was definitely a lot more stuff that I remembered moving in with.

Then again, a lot had happened asides from those two moves-becoming an uncle for the first time to Hikari's son Kyohei, marrying Chieko, being best man at Kazuki's wedding to Orihime (I was still getting over the fact we were now related to Hokuto), becoming an uncle once again for the second time, this time to Kazuki's and Orihime's son Daigo. I'd also recently managed to become acquaintance with a couple of members of my old football team, and that had been a wild experience.

I washed the glass and put it to dry, and then wondered what to do next. Chieko had just gone to the bathroom, and Shizuka was organising the things in her own new bedroom. _And I've not heard a peep from her, have I? Right, hop to it._ I left the glass in the sink, and climbed up the stairs, then turned left to Shizuka's bedroom. The door was closed, the hand-painted sign already stuck to it proclaiming that this was 'Shizuka's Den'. Carefully, I rapped on the door.

"Shizuka, can I come in?"

"Yeah."

I opened the door to see her crouching in front of her new bookshelf, busily arranging books in it. Yosa and a few random trinkets had been arranged on top of it, and her desk and wardrobe seemed to have been filled in with the relevant things. In truth, she probably didn't need supervision-she was in sixth grade now, after all, and she was a fairly sensible kid for her age. Even so, I asked:

"Everything okay here?"

Shizuka looked up and blinked at me.

"Yeah, Da….Masa-san. I need help sticking up my wall decorations though…"

"Sure, let's do that now." I said, pretending not to notice how she had almost called me Dad. "Where'd you put them?"

"Over here." She pointed as she put down the books she had been holding, walked to a box near her bed and knelt down in front of it.

I followed her around, and noticed a familiar paper-wrapped package. I waited as she pulled out the packets of different wall stickers we'd bought her from the box and laid them out on the bed. Eventually, she paused, and picked up the package.

"I need help putting this up, too." She admitted, cautiously shaking the paper off to reveal the painting. "Is that okay?"

"Well, of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, because….." Shizuka fidgeted, embarrassed. "Because it's of Dad. "

She went slightly red at that, and internally sighing, I sat on the side of the bed.

"Shizuka, look at me."

She did so, a little tremulously.

"It's fine, really. I've told you, haven't I? I don't mind if you don't call me 'Dad' or anything like that. I'm not jealous of your father because of it, or anything like that. Family is more than what you all call each other."

Admittedly, there was a part of me that would be overjoyed if Shizuka _did_ start to call me Dad, a part of me that really, really desired it. But Chieko and I had only been married for two years, and if the tons of other things that had gone on had been a bit of a whirlwind for me, they would have been a lot more than that for Shizuka. Besides, I wasn't about to force her, because whatever she called me, she was family now, and a simple label wouldn't change that fact.

"Okay…." Shizuka nodded eventually. "So you don't mind that I want this up properly?"

"Well, don't you think it'd be a waste to leave De Guerre's artwork in a cupboard somewhere?"

Shizuka giggled at my mock-offended tone, just as I'd hoped she would do.

"Yeah, Ty-san's a good artist. He should be famous."

"Well, he may be one day." I said, thinking of the Memorial Garden project I knew he was working on. "Anyway, how about we figure out the wall stickers first, then we'll decide where to put the painting."

Shizuka grinned, all doubt gone.

"Okay."

…

I heard laughter when I left the bathroom, and it stilled my nerves for a moment as I tried to figure out where it was coming from. After a moment, I realised it was Shizuka's room, and that Masashi was with her, most likely helping her with sorting things out.

 _Well,_ I thought, _at least I can tell them both at once._ My stomach did a flip, and my nerves returned, so I took a deep breath and pushed open Shizuka's door.

"Hey, what's going on here?" I asked cheerfully.

"Wall stickers!" Shizuka said happily. "Look, Mum!"

She gestured at her walls, which were now mostly-decorated with pretty-mostly pink-stickers of butterflies and flowers arranged in a vague pattern against the smooth cream of the walls. We had asked Shizuka if she wanted the walls to be painted in a new colour once we'd moved in, but she'd been happy to leave them cream and just decorate them, so I may have gone a little too overboard in buying her pretty things to stick on them, but it looked like it was worth it.

Masashi, who was reaching up to stick a purplish, glittery looking daisy sticker, grinned at me, and once he'd pressed it down, came over to me.

"The kitchen's all done," he told me. "Once I'm finished here, we can do the living room. And then we need food. "

"Yes, we do."

The very thought of the takeaways made me shudder a bit. There hadn't been anything wrong with the food itself, but it'd all made me feel vaguely sick, which wasn't the best feeling to have. Then again, now I knew for sure, perhaps it hadn't been the food…

"Chieko, are you okay? You've been feeling a little peaky for a few days now, haven't you?"

"Well, yes, but it's good news." I assured him.

He raised an eyebrow in question, and I beckoned for him to lean in, because saying it completely out loud still felt a touch too terrifying. Having to be the one to share the news instead of having it shared with me was a new experience. Masashi obliged, looking curious, and I whispered what the good news was to him. Once I had, Masashi spluttered, and gasped, stepping back.

"You're sure?" he asked cautiously.

"Definitely sure." I said. "I've just taken a test that confirmed it."

"You have? How did…when did you suspect?"

"A little while ago, but it was just a suspicion…" I trailed off.

I felt a little guilty, as I'd done all of that secretly. _Was that wrong of me?_ Whatever the outcome would have been, in the end I wouldn't have hidden it. Yet there were certain aspects of this situation that were new to me, and others that I hadn't experienced in over 10 years, and I had needed to be sure of this by myself at least, before taking steps to make it known

"That's…that's amazing."

Masashi did not looked unhappy that I hadn't said anything about my suspicions, Instead, he looked absolutely overjoyed, and more than a little amazed. Before I knew what was happening, he hugged me tightly, almost sweeping me off my feet and making me laugh. When he let go, he looked at me in wonderment. I blushed.

"You're happy?" I checked, even though I could tell very clearly. The relief was dizzying-I had not expected a bad reaction, as such. But I hadn't known _what_ to expect.

"Happy? I'm over the moon. This is the best news! We'll need to buy things, decorate the spare roo-"

"Mum, what's happening?" Shizuka asked suddenly, cutting off his excited ramble.

I looked at Masashi, who grinned as he put an arm around me and we turned to face her. Shizuka frowned uncertainly, trying to read our faces from where she was sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"We've got something to tell you." Masashi said excitedly.

"…what is it? Are we moving again?"

"No, no, nothing like that!" Masashi said hurriedly. "Chieko, do you want to do the honours?"

I took a deep breath. _It's fine, you can say it._

"You're going to become a big sister, Shizuka."

There was a silence, as Shizuka blinked, uncertainly.

"A…big sister? Does that mean you're having a baby?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. "It does."

"Ohhhh." Shizuka frowned, then stared at my stomach. "But you don't look like you've got a baby."

"It's too early for it to you to be able to see anything." Masashi said. "Right?"

I nodded in confirmation.

"Ohhh." Shizuka tilted her head. "When will the baby be born?"

"Well….I'm not sure yet, a doctor will have to tell me, but maybe March or April, next year."

"Oh, the baby will have a birthday near to Masa's!" Shizuka exclaimed. "If it _is_ in March. "

"Hah, that'd be cool if that was the case." Masashi said. "But more importantly, how do you feel, Shizuka? About being a big sister?"

Shizuka thought about this for a moment, then scrambled off the bed, and ran over to hug me.

"I'm really excited."

"I'm glad." I said, hugging her back.

 _Because I'm excited too._

 _Chieko_


	84. Epilogue 3: 7 Years Later

**This was probably one of the most difficult epilogues for me to write, so much so I had to leave it, go write epilogue 4 and some other things (epilogue 4 is going to be uploaded a little while after this and it's there you'll hear about the 'other things'), and then come back to this. Then I started my teacher training course, but despite the first few days being pure stress, workload wise things are fairly low key at the moment. So it's here now. I hope you enjoy!  
**

* * *

 _Tyson_

"So, that's all for now. I'll take you through the rest tomorrow, is that fine? I should have your copy of the keys by tomorrow too."

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Laura told me with a flippant hand gesture and an easy grin. "You go on and enjoy your romantic night."

My hand paused just above the door handle, my other went instinctively to the little box I'd been carrying around in my pocket all day, and I stared at my employee and soon-to-be assistant manager. Her smile became knowing.

"Oh, it was just a lucky guess, but knowing you, probably correct, right? Apart from Adam and Lizzie, I've never seen a couple as much in love as you two."

"Surely I'm more subtle?" I joked.

Adam hadn't worked for me for years, but we'd become friends since then. Though he now lived in Norfolk with Lizzie and their little girl Phoebe, he still came to see how everything was doing with us every so often. And he was still as soppy over his wife as he had been as a younger man.

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Laura was saying. "Still, it's obvious to anyone with eyes. Wakana is a lucky lady."

"No, I'm lucky."

Laura's smile widened, but this time it was just happy.

"See, you just proved my point."

I shook my head, and smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Laura."

I opened the door for her, and Laura grinned again before leaving. I locked the door, double-checked that the sign would show passers-by that we were closed, then switched off the light, and headed upstairs to the flat, where I heard a soft murmuring.

"I'm back!" I called out in Japanese.

The murmuring stopped.

"I'm over here." Wakana responded. "By the shrine."

I went over to the tiny wardrobe I'd repurposed as a family shrine just before Wakana had moved in, and saw her sitting in front of it. _Ah, she's talking to Daisuke again._ This was not something that worried me-in lieu of being able to visit his grave, this is what she did. It was the reason I'd done the repurposing for her in the first place. Our relationship had been such a big leap for her, for so many reasons beyond the moving across the globe it had required, I had been determined to make it easier in any way I could.

"What're you talking about today?" I asked, putting my arms around her.

"Oh, this and that." Wakana shrugged, leaning into me. "I told him we're going back for a while, because of the memorial garden project, and what sections you'd been working on. I promised I'd go to see his siblings, and his new nephew. And I talked a little about the projects the orchestra's been working on. The usual."

"That's good. "

"So, how was your day? It seemed like the shop was a bit busy this afternoon."

"There was a bit of a mad rush, but it was fine. I managed to train Laura up some more, and I think she'll be ready to be assistant manager with plenty of time to spare."

"I'm pleased about that. Now you don't have to worry about leaving everything to work on the gardens."

"Yes, indeed."

I had been working on the plans for a memorial garden that would be located where Hope's Peak had used to be for a long time now, but it had only been in the last couple of years I'd actually gotten the backing to get work done on it. I'd managed to handle it all from here for the most part, liaising with the ones actually physically doing the work over phone and email and Skype. But things were getting to the point where I had to oversee things in person. And I was itching for the chance to do some hands-on work for it myself.

"So, what plans do we have for dinner?" Wakana asked. "I was going to make something, but I couldn't think of what to make."

I straightened up.

"Oh, that's fine by me." I said. "Shall we figure out what to make together?"

Wakana lit up at that, and stood up.

"Sure."

So we went to the kitchen, and looked through the food we had, and eventually decided upon something to make. I put on a CD of 'The Daybreak Symphonies" and we spent the next hour or so happily preparing the meal. When it was cooking in the oven, and we'd made some headway with the cleaning, I decided that now was the moment.

"Ty-Chan?" Wakana asked, putting down the tea towel as she gave me a quizzical look. "Is something wrong?"

"No…quite the opposite. I have something important to ask you."

I took a breath, and pulled the box out of my pocket. Opening it, I placed it in my hand, and then got down on one knee.

"Wakana Abe, will you marry me?"

We had talked about marriage before, long, heartfelt talks. I knew there was still a part of Wakana that felt pain at the fact Daisuke would not be there for any wedding she'd have, but eventually, she had come around to the idea, and I had told her that one day, I would be asking formally. But I had wanted the moment of the asking to be a surprise.

And a surprise it seemed to be. Wakana just stared, her hands to her mouth and her eyes wide. My breath caught in my throat as I waited, but I knew I had to be patient. I'd considered a speech of some sort, extra words to go with the question, but in the end, I'd just hoped that my love would speak for itself. So I waited, and watched.

And then her hands moved away from her face, and she knelt down to my level. She hesitantly ran a finger over the small, sparkly ring in its box, studying it closely. Then, she carefully tugged it out, and slid it onto her ring finger, and then gripped my outstretched hand with both of hers, before looking up at me and smiling.

And that was all the answer I needed.

 **…**

 _Hokuto_

I sighed as I walked away from the table whose food I had just served. _Man, today is wild,_ I thought, looking around at how full the café was. I was glad of it, but with Orihime busy with the new baby, we were a little short on staff. Sighing, I rushed back to the kitchen, grabbed the next order, and quickly gave it to the table it was meant for, before gathering a few discarded plates and taking them back in to be washed.

When I came back out again, Kazuki was coming through the door, windswept but still amiable- _unlike a certain other brother in law of mine,_ I snarked to myself good-naturedly as I waved to him.

"Hey, Ho-Chi!" he waved back. "I'll change and spend a little of time with Orihime and the boys, then I'll come and cover."

"No problem," I grinned at him. "Take your time!"

"Sure thing! Oh, by the way," he added as he walked into the back. "She said yes."

"What?"

But Kazuki had already gone out of sight, and I sighed. But I didn't have much time to puzzle on it, because all of a sudden someone tapped my shoulder and I almost shrieked, until I realised it was just Asami.

"Oh! Hell Asa, you scared me."

"Sooory." My girlfriend said in a way which suggested that she was not sorry at all. "Are you okay?"

"Nooo….because my brother-in-law just went 'she said yes' at me, and I have no idea what he's on about?"

"Ohhh….let me think."

Asami got the 'going through my mental inventory of inexplicably intricate details' look-which, incidentally, was one of the things I loved best about her-and was lost in thought for a few moments, before suddenly her face lit up.

"Isn't one of your friends getting married? Or thinking of getting married? Tai...no, Tyson-san, that was it!"

"Huh?" I considered this for a moment. "Yeah, I think you're right but…I thought they were just thinking about it. Oh well, I guess I'll know what's what when I can actually get to my phone."

Mentally, I cursed my rule of not having mobile phones on us when working up front, and Asami grinned at me in a way which suggested she knew exactly what I was thinking, before she rushed off to greet customers coming through the door. I allowed myself a moment to stare at her fondly, and then went off to do other tasks.

 _Could he really have proposed to her?_ I'd been watching their romance unfolding, but it had always seemed to be going at a slow pace. Not that I minded, when it was yet another happy ending. But though I remembered them making noises about tying the knot, I didn't remember any actual plans. Though, recently I had been taken up with being the world's best aunt, and then with apartment hunting with Asami (who I was definitely sure was the one and therefore _my_ happy ending). That, on top of the day to day running of the café meant I was a little preoccupied.

As we got closer to closing time, and the café started to quiet down, Orihime came down, with Hayate in her arms. He appeared to be asleep, though I couldn't get too close as I was carrying a precarious pile of plates.

"Hey, everything okay? Where's Daigo?" I called out.

"Ah, he's fine, baffling Kazuki as usual. Hayate was bawling his eyes out and driving him mad, too, but he's calmed down now?"

"Maybe he's a waiter in waiting?" I said, grinning. "Gimme a mo to put these away."

"Sure." Orihime said as she went to chat with Eriko.

I got back to work, and Orihime wandered around, chatting to all of us depending upon who was the least busy at any given moment. Hayate awoke and fussed a little, but the motion of his surroundings seemed to calm him. The few customers who were in didn't seem to mind his presence either, and a few even came to coo over him, which Orihime liked. Eventually though, it was closing time, and we coaxed those final few out, and then I flipped over the sign, locked the door, and let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Ah, man, thank goodness."

"It's been a busy day, hasn't it?" Asami said. "I'll stay back to help wash, you guys can go home."

"Ah, are you sure?" Ria asked, coming out of the kitchen with Natsumi.

"Yeah, yeah, go." I agreed. "Asa and I, we've got it sorted."

"As long as you don't make out in the kitchen." Orihime said, cheekily.

"Orihime!" I mock gasped. "Not in front of the baby."

"Besides, how unsanitary and unromantic would that be?" Asami pointed out.

This made everyone laugh, and Eriko, Natsumi and Ria grinned, and they went to get their things.

"You're not going over today, are you?" Orihime asked me.

"No, that's tomorrow, when we're meeting with Haruhi-Chan and the others." I said.

"Gotcha, cool. " Orihime nodded.

"Hey, did you hear anything about Wakana-Chan saying yes to Tyson-kun?" I asked.

Orihime frowned.

"Oh, yeah. I think they announced it a little while ago, then Masa-Chan called Kazuki. We're all invited to the wedding, naturally, though it hasn't been planned yet. "

I nodded, and then at that moment Eriko, Ria and Natsumi came back, so I let them out, and then Orihime went back upstairs with Hayate while Asami and I went into the kitchen, collecting discarded cutlery as we went along.

"Hey….Ho-Chi, do you feel a little jealous of them? Getting married, I mean?"

The question caught me unawares as I was drying spoons, and I almost dropped them as I spun around to stare at Asami. Her dark green eyes stared evenly at me, strands of dark hair escaping her messy bun and framing her intense expression. I thought about it.

"I suppose so. Why?"

"I don't know," Asami shrugged. "I mean, I like them and all and I'm happy for them but….they're lucky. They can marry and have kids easily, there's no…"

She gave another shrug, and trailed off. I put down the spoons, and went to hug her for a moment. When I let go, I held her out at arms length.

"Hey, the world's changing, isn't it? I mean, if we were in the UK, we would be able to do all that, too. And well…there are still places where we wouldn't even be able to exist together this openly. Besides. We're going to be living together, and we love each other, and that at least is enough for me."

Asami smiled softly at that.

"Yeah, I know. It's not like we need all of that to spend the rest of our lives together, it's…" she shrugged, and then smiled wider.

"Anyway, I'd rather focus on having to buy another dress for this next wedding. You will help me with that, right?"

I mock groaned at that, but nodded and grinned.

"Sure, sure. You can choose something for me, too."

Asami beamed at that, and we quickly finished the washing, and then I went to let Asami out.

"So, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Bye, Ho-chi. Love you."

"Love you too, Asa."

I watched her walk down the street, and then, when I could see her no longer, I closed the door, and headed back up to the apartment, to my family.


	85. Epilogue 4: 10 Years Later (FINAL)

_Shizuka_

Once, this place was a daisy field. Daisies as far as my six-year old eyes could see, with ruins of an old building in the middle of it. Before that, I knew, those ruins had once been a building, a grand school, but I had never seen that, and going to that daisy field was the first I had learnt of that school. But now, I am sixteen, and this place is no longer a daisy field. There are daisies in the flowerbeds, and daisy motifs on the gates and the benches and things, but now this is a garden. The Towa City Memorial Garden, to be specific.

And today is the day it opens.

I watch Tyson and Munakata carefully, and when my name is mentioned, I try to get my nervous trembling under control and walk across to them, to receive the scissors that I will use to cut the ribbon that is currently tied to the gates. Never before have I felt the weight of my heritage as heavily before. Even though the stories of what happened to Mum and Pa and everyone else have been a defining point of my childhood, from that summer when I was six and Mum started to tell me what had happened, I had never felt the legacy to be a responsibility or burden to shoulder. It was just my history. All the same, it feels strange, to know that I am the eldest child of one of the Survivors' of the Hope's Peak Killing Game. I suppose that if you were to include non-blood children, then Nanako would be the eldest, followed by Yuichi, and then it would be me. But I'm still the only one that's the child of both a Survivor and someone who didn't make it out, and though it's only Mum's name that is mentioned when Tyson introduces me to the crowd gathered to watch the opening of the Garden, I know full well that it is Dad who is in everyone's mind as they stare at me.

Knowing I am blushing _-oh dear, I hope I haven't gone completely red-_ , I try my best to remain calm as I accept the scissors, and then turn to smile faintly and bow at the crowd. Though most of my family-both actual and surrogate-are in the garden behind me, rushing around, directing workers, waiting for the crowds to come in and all that, I spot my childhood friend Shunsuke in the crowd, along with my other two childhood friends Renge and Tsubaki. Shunsuke's parents are also in the crowd, talking to a woman I recognise as Seiko Kimura, their former classmate of Hope's Peak. I also see Benjamin Cain with his wife and two children, and a few people whose names I cannot quite recall but I know are friends of Mum's dead classmates.

And right at the back of the crowd, almost hidden by the rest and closer to the school across the road than she is to here, is Tamiko Ikawa, the aunt of Kiku Inoue, and the founder of the Kiku Inoue Foundation. Though this is a weird day, and has been a weird past few weeks for me, it's been madder for her. The Kiku Inoue Foundation School-which is what the school she's standing by now is-opened just last week, and will be taking its first set of new high school students in a couple of weeks with the start of the new academic year. I took a tour of it last week, and it looks like it will be a good place. I shouldn't think it'd take too long for people to stop thinking of it as 'Hope Valley High', and if it wasn't for the fact I'm perfectly happy at the high school I'm in now, I'd think about going there instead.

Tamiko Ikawa nods at me as she catches my eye, Shunsuke and Renge smile broadly at me, while Tsubaki gives me a thumbs up, and this is enough to make me feel a little better, and I give a wider smile to the crowd in return, before hefting the scissors, carefully placing them at the ribbon, and then snipping.

 _SNIP!_

The sound seems almost too loud in the hushed silence that has fallen, but then, Tyson and Munakata move over to push the gates open, and there is a flurry of applause, and everyone is coming forward. Quickly, I slip through the gates myself, and duck to the side, so I don't get caught in the crowds. _Phew._ I take a few deep breaths, and fan my face, before turning and deciding to wander around. I cut across a stretch of grass, and almost collide into a small group of children.

"Oh, sorry." I apologise. "Did I hurt any of you?"

"No, it's okay." One of the boys-my cousin Daigo-says.

"Silly Nee-nee!" Haruka says.

"Me, silly?" I kneel down and tickle my little sister, who wriggles and giggles gleefully.

I let her go, and then regard the small group of children-which also includes my other two cousins Hayate and Kyohei, and the Shimada twins, as well as couple of children I don't know, and smile at them.

"Are you all okay? Anything you need?"

"No, we're just playing!" Hayate says happily.

Kyohei nods soberly at this.

"Alright, that's fine." I smile at them, and get up, taking the opportunity to ruffle Haruka's hair as I do. "Don't get into trouble now."

"Okay!"

They all run off, and I watch them for a while before continuing on my way. I look around at everyone, spotting familiar faces occasionally, and waving to them if they see me. Eventually, I find Shunsuke, Renge and Tsubaki, clustered around the small food stall that Nanako and Yuichi are running.

"Hey, Shizu!" Shunsuke says.

"Shizuka!" Tsubaki grins and slings an arm around my shoulder. "You looked very cool up there/2

"No I didn't!" I protest. "I was blushing like a tomato!"

"Nah, you were fine." Renge says. "Right, guys?"

"Oh, definitely."

Shunsuke smiles at Renge, and she blushes, very subtly. _Yup, she's so not over him yet,_ I think, as I give Tsubaki a hard stare to make sure she doesn't start teasing her about it. Tsubaki notices, and sticks her tongue out at me.

"So…do you want anything, or what?" Yuichi asks us. "Nobody's come yet, we're bored outta our minds, right, Nana-nee?"

Nanako raises an eyebrow, and shrugs.

"I guess. But yeah, you get family discount, or whatever, I guess. So go wild. "

Her surly expression brightens into a wide grin for a moment, and so we spend some time at the stall, chatting and eating snacks, before a small group of visitors come up to us, and we disperse. Shunsuke goes off to talk to someone he recognises, and Renge and Tsubaki stay with me as we wander around and look at the flowers. It amuses Tsubaki greatly to find some camellias, and she grins when she sees cherry blossom and irises (which she takes photographs of), but sadly, there are no lotuses, which Renge is mildly disappointed about.

"There's a pond somewhere though," I say, suddenly remembering blueprints Mum had been frowning over. "I'm sure they'd have your flowers, Renge-Chan."

"Then, what are we waiting for, let's go!"

Tsubaki drags both of us by the hand and starts to take off in a completely different direction to the one I know is the correct one.

"Wait, wait!" I protest. "Not that way, this way!"

I point, and after a little while, manage to get Tsubaki to let me lead the way, only for us to almost bump into Wakana the moment we start to head off.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Wakana apologises.

"No, it's our fault." I say, before noticing that Wakana is carrying her son Felix. "Oh, hey, little guy."

Felix, who had been hiding his face in Wakana's shoulder, turns to look at me warily and gives me a big smile, though he shrinks back a little when Tsubaki tries to get his attention.

"I don't suppose you've seen Tyson-Chan anywhere?" she asks.

"No…." I say, trying to think. "Why?"

"I have to conduct soon," Wakana explains, gesturing over to the gazebo where I can see an orchestra setting up. "And Felix won't go with anyone else."

"He doesn't mind me, do you, Kanato-kun?" I ask, opting for using his middle name (because for all I have a reasonable understanding of English, the X sound still trips me up a little).

This earns me another smile.

"There, see? I could always take him for you?"

"Oh, are you sure?" Wakana asks me. "I don't want to trouble you."

"No, no, it's no trouble at all."

Wakana nods.

"Thank you so much," she says effusively. "This helps a lot."

After murmuring reassuringly to Felix, she hands him over to me, and I settle him on my hip as she goes off.

"He's really shy, isn't he?" Tsubaki says in amazement as Felix now burrows his head against my shoulder.

"He is, yeah." I reply.

"You're basically a kid whisperer as well as an animal whisperer!" Renge jokes.

I just smile. While I do like to think I have a special affinity with animals, I don't think the same is true with little children. Anything special I do there comes from the fact I have a much younger sister.

"Well, let's go and find your Daddy then, okay?"

"What about the pond?" Renge asks.

"Holy crap, you really want to see your flower, don't you?!" Tsubaki says.

"We can go there on the way," I offer. "After all, I'm not sure where Ty-san is."

"Okay, that works!" Renge says.

So we head off. I then find Akira leading a small tour, and after a small chat, realise they're going to the pond we're looking for, so I leave Renge and Tsubaki with them, and continue on with Felix. We do eventually find Tyson, who thanks me effusively as he takes Felix, hoisting the little boy up onto his shoulders.

"So, what are you going to do now, Shizuka?"

"Maybe I'll see if I can find Mum," I say, without thinking. "Do you have any idea where she could be?"

"Hmmm," Tyson considers this for a moment. "Perhaps in the sunken garden?"

 _The sunken garden. Of course._

"Alright, thank you."

Tyson leaves with Felix, and I head the opposite way-deeper into the garden. I weave through crowds and small groups of people as I purposefully make my way there. The closer I get, the fewer people there are, and suddenly, I am in a patch of small daisies, and the memory steals my breath for a moment.

But this time, there aren't daisies as far as the eye can see, all around me. No, this time, it is just a small patch surrounding a large grassy rectangle that created in this specially sunk area. There are two steps leading down into the grassy area it encloses, and the second step serves as a seating ledge. In the centre of the garden, there is a huge maple tree, and a small stand with a box full of paper wishes. Some people are standing at it, tying wishes to the branch. But there are a few around the edges, looking at the memorial plaques embedded into the seating ledges-eleven, one for each of the dead. And one person is sitting right by one particular one, seeming to be particularly studying it. As they are right across from me, I can see who it is. And I know exactly whose plaque that must be as a result.

So I take a deep breath in, and make my way down there. I pause a moment to admire the tree-it had been brought in specially, so that visitors would not have to wait years and years to be able to hang wishes upon it-before going over.

"Mum?" I ask.

She looks up, clearly having been lost in thought, and blinks quizzically at me.

"Shizuka?"

"Yeah," I say. "I just came to check on you."

I sit down on the other side of Mum, and look at the plaque myself.

"It's okay…I'm fine today, you don't need to worry about me."

"I know, Mum." I reply, tracing my Dad's name absently. "I know."

Mum has always tried her best to make sure that none of it has impacted on me -until a couple of years ago, I had no idea that she was seeing a therapist-, but I think from an early age I noticed that Mum was not always happy, to put it mildly. I noticed when during certain periods in March, I'd be sent to stay with Grandma Ana (back when we lived next door to her) or with Shunsuke's family (back when we lived in Aunt Misa's old flat), and noticed how she seemed reluctant to talk about Dad. And I think that year when Mum went to meet with the rest of the other Survivors (as they still call themselves) was the year I really began to get a sense that there was a something behind these odd occurrences I'd noticed, and to connect them with the unusual things that happened in March. And then eventually, as I learnt the story of what had happened, things started to fall into place.

These days, March has become a little easier for her, I think. Pa's birthday is in March, and so is Haruka's, and though initially that made things even harder, I think in the end it gave her something good to remember about each month, rather than something traumatic. But even so, I am always too aware that even over Dad's death anniversary or his birthday, that this time is a difficult one. And even though I know it is not my burden to bear, and that all she wants is for me to live normally, I cannot help but be careful.

"Do you think he might be around here, as well, now he's memorialised here?" I ask, lightly.

"I don't know…" Mum says wistfully. "I like to think so, don't you?"

"I…maybe." I shrug, considering. "Well, Dad, if you're here as well, then hi, I guess."

My fingers go to the dates underneath, and I linger on the years: 1993, 2010. I'm almost the same age he was, back then. It's weird to think about, in so many ways _. I wonder, if I had met Dad in a different life where we had been peers, would I have liked him?_

"Hi, Koutarou."

I look up at Mum, who looks dreamy again. She doesn't say anything, but it seems like in her head, she's having a conversation with him. I wonder what it is, if I will be able to ask. Though I know so much more of my history than I did when I was little, there is still so much I do not know. I often point curious school friends to Noriko's biography in lieu of explaining it myself, that's how unequipped to fully understand it I am. That, and the fact they can be a little too voyeuristic in their asking, when this is such an intimate, personal part of who I am, but that's neither here nor there. Mostly, it's just that despite being special amongst this second generation, sometimes I feel the least equipped to understand it.

 _But even so, it's my history and…_

Mum looks up at me, and smiles.

"I think I've spent a little too long here-your dad will be wondering where we are. And I want to check on Haruka."

This, I know, refers to Pa, rather than Dad. She prefers to distinguish between the two as Dad and Daddy when talking about them to me. I prefer the distinction I came up with after years and years of agonising over it-they're different enough to show they're different parts of my family, but the same enough to show …well, what's the same.

"Haruka's probably still with Kyohei and the others." I say.

"Mhm."

We sit for a moment longer, and then get up, staring at the tree for a moment, before heading across to climb up the steps. But, just as we reach them, Mum stops, and turns back to look at Dad's plaque for a moment.

"Mum?"

She turns to me, and gives me a smile. I smile back, and on an impulse, put my arm around her. She puts an arm around me, and then we let go, and climb out of the sunken garden.

… _it is a history I am proud of._

* * *

 **And now, we're officially finished! Were you expecting Shizuka to be the POV of the final epilogue? In truth, until I actually started properly planning the epilogues, I hadn't either. But here we are-to everyone who has been reading, reviewing etc, thank you so much! I really appreciate the support and hope you enjoyed the story.**

 **Anyway, I think I mentioned a second-generation headcanons list for this fanfic, and I will do that at some point in the next few weeks, most likely on a Sunday, and that'll be on Tumblr under the tag for this story. As for the status updates and the full-cast list, that will be removed from my profile, but that is because I am starting a new DR SYOC. Yes, really. It will be very different to The SHSL Survivors' Society, but if you are interested, check it out. It will be called 'And So It Begins' and I am actually planning on uploading it today, after this is up. Though if I don't, it'll be up on this Sunday instead.**

 **So, yeah, bye for now, and again, thanks for reading. If you have any final feedback to give me, please leave a review. :)**


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